Ten Thousand Democracies: Politics and Public Opinion in American School Districts. By Michael B. Berkman and Eric Plutzer. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2005. 226p. $26.95.

An important and ambitious empirical study of policymaking in the (K–12) school districts of America, this book presents statistical support for noteworthy and sometimes surprising conclusions about the functioning of democracy at this level. The study is important because it raises and answers theoretically valuable questions about democracy in the organization and functions of the public schools. It is ambitious because the data and analytical requirements upon which these questions and answers depend are substantial.