As strategies go, whataboutism is more attack than debate. Using it isn’t about reasoned argument but winning a fight, no matter the cost to truth.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Debates
Displaying 1 - 20 of 22 articles
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.
Functional political debates, like healthy democracies, require participants who respect the process and follow mutually agreed-upon rules.
Three new approaches in the field of competitive academic debate offer ideas that could help presidential debates serve both their public purposes.
At the Jan. 14 debate, held at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, six candidates clashed on jobs, Iran and more.
The only satisfactory debate arrangement everyone agreed to nearly 60 years ago largely remains in place today – the game show format.
Learn more about the economic issues that were debated by the Democratic presidential candidates in Atlanta on Nov. 20.
When ideas are presented as topics to be debated, rather than as facts to be learnt, students and democracy benefit.
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 former middle school teacher offers a series of tips on how educators can teach young people to engage in more civil discourse.
Do you feel as if the moderators keep asking the same questions of the presidential candidates? Our panel has some fresh ideas.
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.
Scholars from the Washington University in St. Louis react to the second presidential debate.
One in five vice presidents becomes president. So we had scholars watching Tuesday night. Here’s what they heard.
Live events like sports seemed immune to streaming services’ assault on traditional broadcast TV. Now that might change.
Policy nuances often fail to stick in the minds of debate viewers. It’s all about delivering the most memorable moment.
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.
Just ask Megyn Kelly of Fox News. Covering the Trump campaign is no picnic. But journalists have a duty to do more than write clickbait stories on the billionaire candidate.
It’s so easy to get side-tracked in any discussion and once that happens you’re doomed. So what do you need to know to win your argument?
Jeremy Paxman might be a bully, but his confrontational style makes for a great show.
Top contributors
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Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Education; Curriculum Director, UQ Critical Thinking Project, The University of Queensland
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Senior Lecturer, School of Media, Film and Journalism, Monash University
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Professor of International Affairs, Penn State
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Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Ethics, Nottingham Trent University
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Professor of Political Communication, Loughborough University
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Professor of Communication and Media Analysis, Loughborough University
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Professor of Media Studies, Queensland University of Technology
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Associate lecturer, University of the West of England
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Associate Professor, Political Science, Emory University
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Distinguished University Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland
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Professor of Communication and Journalism, Texas A&M University
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Knight Professor of Journalism Ethics, Washington and Lee University
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Associate Professor of Political Science, Case Western Reserve University
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Professor of Political Science, Vanderbilt University
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Associate Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis
