Researchers have amply demonstrated that parental influences, neighborhood factors and the economic-cum-racial context of schools, respectively, continue to have important influences on the socio-economic life chances of students, but there is a dearth of research on the political consequences of these factors. This Award for Beginning Academics involves a pilot study to examine the impact of parental, neighborhood and school influences on the political as well as racial orientations and policy dispositions of black and white youths. The current project involves strengthening the theoretical framework, constructing a mail survey questionnaire for high school seniors and their parents. sending the survey to 3,000 potential respondents and their parents, and, analyzing the findings of the survey.
