Representative democracies hinge on citizens' political participation, from casting votes to running for office at the local, state, and national levels. Yet, many questions remain regarding how to nurture political participation and leadership aspiration, especially early in life. Existing work has largely focused on adolescents' concrete political behaviors, leaving their more abstract perceptions of politics-such as who they see politics representing and whether they view politics as impactful- understudied. Here, we examined these perceptions of political representation and impact among high school students (ages 13-17) in Queens, NY (N = 113) and tested how these perceptions relate to adolescents' confidence and interest in pursuing leadership roles. Data was collected one week before and after the 2024 U.S. presidential election, allowing us to track real-time shifts in political perceptions and aspirations. Adolescents showed substantial variation across demographic and political characteristics, with perceptions of representation and impact interacting in nuanced ways, particularly for historically underrepresented groups. Election-related shifts in these perceptions further predicted changes in adolescents' confidence, and especially interest, in political leadership, suggesting a feedback loop that may contribute to persistent leadership inequities. This study underscores the importance of understanding adolescents' abstract political thinking and informs efforts to foster more inclusive democratic leadership. In a time of rising polarization and political mistrust, it is crucial to understand how developing adolescents-our future voters and leaders-think about their place in the political world. Leveraging the context of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, our findings illustrate how adolescents' social and political identities influence their perceptions of who belongs in politics and why politics matters, in turn shaping their own motivations to pursue political leadership careers.
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