Race, intelligence and political efficacy among school children

This paper focuses on the difference in political efficacy found between black and white pre-adults, and assesses a specific explanation of this racial difference, one that combines elements of the intelligence explanation with aspects of the social-deprivation explanation as outlined by Paul Abramson. The explanation suggests that the racial difference in feelings of political effectiveness is due to intelligence which, in turn, is basically a function of the social and economic environment. Focusing on a study of 421 black and white students, it is shown that the predictions from the theory are empirically valid. Most importantly, it is demonstrated that once intelligence is controlled for, there is little or no relationship between race and political efficacy--that is, the black and white students are approximately equal in their levels of political effectiveness. Thus the study lends empirical support to this particular explanation of the racial difference in political efficacy, and suggests, more generally, that intelligence may play a significant role in the political socialization process.