Employing a process model of political recruitment, this study investigated the relative impact of a school system's social, economic, and political structure on school board member recruitment. Process data were collected by means of structured interviews with school board cnadidates in a stratified sample of systems. Structural data were drawn from government documents, schools system records, and reports of political activities. The global hypothesis of the study, which predicted a relationship between the social, economic, and political structure of school systems and patterns of school board member recruitment, was confirmed. (Author)