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Data for this analysis of school district governance were gathered in lengthy interviews with 490 school board members and 82 school superintendents from a sample of 83 school districts. In addition, briefer interviews were conducted with 91 board members and 12 superintendents from districts in the 13 largest metropolitan areas. The study revealed a strong positive correlation between the level of political activity in a school district and the responsiveness of school board members to their constituents. However, both responsive and unresponsive boards were generally dominated by the superintendent of the district. In fact, superintendents tended to be more dominant in those districts with relatively responsive school boards, so the unresponsiveness of most school boards is of little practical consequence. The authors conclude that American school boards should actually begin to govern or else they should be abolished altogether. (JG)