The relationship between student attitudes and the school as a political system is analyzed in this research report. Four types of school systems are hypothesized: elite, bureaucratic, coalitional, and participant. After testing this conceptualization, student attitudes of trust, integration, confidence, and interest toward both school and society are explored. Questionnaire results from 2,546 students in 13 Midwest secondary schools provide the research data. The results indicate that most schools tended to be bureaucratic, although there was variation within this pattern. The student attitudes formed a consistent and predictable structure with general societal attitudes closely related to attitudes toward school. Depending on the particular systemic characteristic, coalitional and participant school systems were most closely related to positive student attitudes, while elite school system patterns were most closely related to negative student attitudes. Student attitudes toward the bureaucratic school pattern fell between these two positions. Student government groups were seen by students as more important in the school decision-making process than originally hypothesized. (Author/DE)