Political debates are intended to allow voters to sharpen their understanding of the views, priorities and core political messages of presidential and vice-presidential candidates. They are not, however, designed to entice voters to switch from one party to another. To accomplish this goal, debates must provide voters with substantive information about the candidates that is not easily available in other campaign events.
The debates must also be managed in a way that minimizes the risk of escalation from partisan attacks to personal, rude behavior that disrupts the flow of the event. Finally, the debates must be sufficiently large to allow for a meaningful discussion of issues that are of national interest.
Current Debate Process
The prevailing model for the organization of political debates involves a nonpartisan commission that invites candidates to participate in a series of structured exchanges on topics relevant to voter choice and interest. The debates are then broadcast on television and other platforms. The moderator is a journalist (typically a former or current anchor of a network news program) who is selected by the commission several weeks before the debate. The selection of journalists is based on their familiarity with the candidates, their expertise in live televised debates and extensive experience in conducting interviews for television broadcast news programs. The debates are structured with strict time limits for answers and a town hall format.
The debates require extensive logistical support. Hosting universities build and retrofit spaces to host the event and develop technological systems to accommodate thousands of media, campaign staff and surrogates. These costs raise questions of transparency and accountability.