STUDIES OF AMERICAN presidential elections show that poor people vote in fewer numbers than do more well-to-do members of the population. One reason, experts say, is that the poor believe their vote doesn't count for much because the government does so little to help them.

This belief may be growing as a result of significant changes in welfare laws and hardening attitudes toward the needy. Welfare—a collection of state and federal programs designed to help the needy—was long considered an entitlement that the poor could receive for a lifetime. Now states are setting strict time limits on welfare benefits and forcing many poor people to go to work. Meanwhile, more communities are refusing to expand their aid to the needy, restricting panhandling by the homeless, and permitting practices that exploit poor migrant farmworkers.

All of these changes are occurring at a time when the...