The goal of political debate is to give voters clearer insight into the character and policies of candidates running for office. In an era that is dominated by television ads, talk radio, sound bites, and spin, political debate offers an opportunity for citizens to see and hear the major candidates side-by-side.
For example, the debates organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) have been conducted since 1987 with a nonpartisan and independent goal of affording the public a chance to sharpen the views of candidates for president and vice president through focused question and answer sessions in a format designed to facilitate public understanding. Unlike the debates sponsored at the high school or collegiate level, these debates are generally more structured with time limits set on each candidate’s turn to speak and questions limited to specific issues.
While debates may appear to be contentious, they are a powerful tool for voter education. According to CPD research, viewers report that debates increased their knowledge of the candidates and their policy positions. In addition, voters have been shown to change their voting preferences based on the information they learned from viewing debates, even among those with strong partisan tendencies.
This research is based on an analysis of more than six decades worth of election-related data from countries such as the U.S., Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden. This data included both national surveys and the Canal 9 Corpus, a large collection of televised political debates that contain more than 190 participants speaking for 27 hours and 56 minutes.
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