Political debate is a conversation between individuals with differing points of view, which aims to inform voters and advance public policy. While heightened political polarization makes it difficult for Americans to find common ground, a well-designed and engaging debate can bring us closer together.
To qualify for a presidential debate, candidates must have a statistically feasible chance of winning a majority of the electoral votes. The organization that stages the debate must use objective criteria to select the candidates and the dates of the debates. The CPD also advises sponsors of non-presidential debates (gubernatorial, congressional, mayoral, state legislative, city council) on debate production issues and voter education initiatives.
Historically, the purpose of political debate has been to convince voters that a particular candidate’s platform is the best choice for them. For example, in the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1848, the candidates used their opening statements to describe their platforms to 40 to 80 million Americans listening on live radio.
Today, most voters are quite familiar with the candidates through their track record as incumbents or through several months of campaign events prior to the debates. In addition, most debates are moderated by journalists who are familiar with the candidates and their major policies. The moderators choose the questions and do not meet with the campaigns and do not discuss them ahead of time.
As a result, the questions often fail to reveal anything that the candidates would not have been aware of from their track records or from their extensive prior preparation. Additionally, the debate format typically limits each candidate to two minutes to answer and rebut each question, with the moderator managing response times using colored lights reminiscent of traffic signals (green indicating 30 seconds left, yellow indicating 15 seconds and red indicating that only five seconds are left).