This paper, prepared for a faculty seminar in conjunction with an NDEA International Affairs Institute, examines data collected in numerous studies on the political attitudes of children and adolescents. Four widely used models derived to deal with political socialization (the accumulation model, the identification model, the role transfer model, and the cognitive development model) and one less frequently used model (the reduction expansion model) are offered in the opening pages. The major portion of the document deals with the state of current descriptive information (derived from questionnaire responses with interviews) about the attitudes and information which children (grades 2 through 8) may have about the United States and other countries: attitudes and beliefs about the nation, communism, the Soviet Union and Red China, the United Nations, the President and the national government, other nations in relation to the United States, and war and peace. The influence of curriculum and teacher behavior on children's attitudes is also explored. A 19-item bibliography is included. (SM)