The influence of school visits by politicians on young people’s attitudes towards politics

Abstract Contact between citizens and politicians is clearly beneficial in a democracy. Schools offer a chance to introduce students to politics early, helping engage them before potential disillusionment makes participation more difficult. This study examines the effects of school visits by politicians on students’ attitudes towards politics, focusing on three dimensions: the image of politicians, internal political efficacy, and external political efficacy. 15- to 19-year-olds in two German schools participated in a state parliament outreach programme. Using a pre-post design, surveys were administered immediately before and just over one week after the 90-minute event that included a question-and-answer session with a state-level politician. The results show significant improvements in all three indicators, with small to medium effect sizes, suggesting that such outreach programmes can enhance students’ perceptions of politicians and students’ confidence in understanding and engaging with politics. The findings further indicate that the intervention may have effects across people with different characteristics. This highlights the potential of political outreach initiatives, in schools and elsewhere, to foster positive attitudes towards the political system.