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Articles on Debates

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Chinese outlets that once relayed cautious optimism over Donald Trump’s deal-making abilities now express exasperation over his chaotic style. Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images

Russian media may be joining China and Iran in turning on Trump

In 2016, America’s adversaries seemed to cheer electoral chaos and a withering faith in democracy. Now they seem to be hoping democracy can topple a leader they’ve grown loathe to deal with.
Host Jack Barry, middle, is flanked by contestants on ‘21,’ a 1950s TV game show. Orlando Fernandez/New York World-Telegram and Sun/Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons

Think presidential debates are dull? Thank 1950s TV game shows

The only satisfactory debate arrangement everyone agreed to nearly 60 years ago largely remains in place today – the game show format.
Left to right: Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau pose before the start of the French-language leaders’ debate in Montreal in September 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS

A new debates commission is the electoral reform Canadians need

The creation of a new debate commission in Canada should ensure televised showdowns between party leaders amid federal election campaigns are transparent and a boon to democracy.
A woman enters the media workspace at the University of Las Vegas, site of the last 2016 U.S. presidential debate. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Four female scholars suggest questions for the final presidential debate

Do you feel as if the moderators keep asking the same questions of the presidential candidates? Our panel has some fresh ideas.
Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks during the October 9 presidential town hall debate. Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Donald Trump and the dangerous rhetoric of portraying people as objects

An expert in political rhetoric singles out Trump’s repeated use of reification – the tendency to treat people as things – and the role it’s played in his tortured response to the leaked tape.
Protesters wearing masks of presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump march in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dominick Reuter/Reuters

Are U.S. politics beyond a joke?

From Alfonso the Wise’s bawdy songs of slander to Ronald Reagan’s sunny smile, politics and humor have gone hand-in-hand for centuries. But no one seems to be laughing anymore.

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