Analyzing the scope and methods of the literature on political socialization reviewed in sources published heretofore, this study lists the major omissions in the existing literature as (1) neglecting the influence of peers, (2) neglecting informal processes within schools, (3) being limited to certain methodologies to the exclusion of others, and (4) neglecting anything but white, mainstream Americans as subjects. As a result of the latter, the research reported in the study was done in a multi-ethnic working class ghetto-like neighborhood in New York City, about 45 percent black, 45 percent Spanish-speaking, and 10 percent white. Methodology encompassed participant observation with considerable time spent in the schools themselves, interviews with staff, parents, and children, examination of peer effects in playground settings, and a full teaching schedule totalling about 26 full time equivalent months spent in the variety of field settings examined. Findings include aspects of authoritarianism in the schools, the undemocratic nature of schools, and the conflict between the symbols, ideals, and myths of the school and the political reality of the child's life. [Parts of this document are not clearly legible due to the print quality of the original.] (Author/RJ)