According to the Superior Electoral Court, from 2014 to 2018, the number of young voters aged between 16 and 17 years decreased by more than 14 percent in Brazil. This apparent lack of interest on the part of young people is worrying, since the strengthening of democracy is directly linked to the level of people s political education. This panorama raises the following question: how does political education in school geography classes contribute to the empowerment of students through the improvement of citizenship? Therefore, this dissertation aims to analyze the potential of political education to make geographic knowledge powerful in Basic Education. The methodological procedures were based on theoretical studies on the following themes: brazilian political practices; political literacy; threshold concepts; politics in school curricula; and the powerful knowledge related to geography. It was also based on the application of questionnaires to Basic Education students in order to identify the level of knowledge about politics; the degree of importance given to politics as a contribution to spatial transformations; the degree of importance given to the possibility of studying politics at school; and the level of knowledge about the functions in the Brazilian Political System. Some results show that: 96 percent know nothing or little about politics; only 37 percent believe that politics contributes to spatial transformations; 84 percent think it is very important or important to study politics at school; and there was almost total lack of knowledge about the functions of councilors, deputies, mayors, etc. We believe that this research can foster discussions and pedagogical actions to promote knowledge about politics in school geography classes.