Functional political debates, like healthy democracies, require participants who respect the process and follow mutually agreed-upon rules.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Presidential debates
Displaying 1 - 20 of 26 articles
Three new approaches in the field of competitive academic debate offer ideas that could help presidential debates serve both their public purposes.
The only satisfactory debate arrangement everyone agreed to nearly 60 years ago largely remains in place today – the game show format.
In his final debate with Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump refused to promise he will accept the outcome of the election.
The Conversation's experts respond to the third and final US presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
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.
In reducing his aggressive, sexist banter to 'locker-room' conversation, Donald Trump reveals a regressive and oafish masculinity.
Donald Trump landed some blows in the second debate, but not enough to change the momentum of the campaign, which is firmly favouring Hillary Clinton.
The Conversation's experts respond to the second US presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
The Conversation's experts respond to the first US presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
The impact of presidential debates has always been overrated – and when they do make a difference, it's for the wrong reasons.
Policy nuances often fail to stick in the minds of debate viewers. It's all about delivering the most memorable moment.
Even Trump and Clinton have oratorical anxieties. Here are some research-based strategies presidential candidates and the rest of us can use to overcome them.
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.
With the presidential debates being derided as evidence we live in a “post-fact" political world, why aren't the moderators “truth vigilantes”?
Debates used to be a public service. Now they're akin to the WWE – a blend of fiction and reality, with the candidates and networks all adhering to the same script.
While much of the 2014 midterm election analysis centered on the Republican takeover of the Senate, the pundits may have overlooked an important development: the end of a time when politicians looked a…
Only a month ago the outcome of the US presidential election was seen my most commentators as being a question of the margin of President Barack Obama’s victory. But then the television debates intervened…
In modern politics, a candidate’s image is everything, linguistic anthropologists researching US presidential campaigns have…
In the heavyweight clash of the presidential candidates, round three went to President Barack Obama on points – not by knockout. This means the incumbent won two out of the three match-ups. Interestingly…
Top contributors
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Assistant Professor, Miller Center, University of Virginia, and US Studies Centre, University of Sydney
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Lecturer in International Relations, La Trobe University
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Dennis Altman is a Friend of The Conversation.
Professorial Fellow in Human Security, La Trobe University
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US Election Analyst, University of Sydney
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Researcher, Crisis Negotiator, Law Enforcement, Columbia University
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Lead Academic Teacher - Politics & Social Science (Swinburne Online), Swinburne University of Technology
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Senior Lecturer, The University of Melbourne
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Associate Professor in American Politics, The University of Melbourne
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Associate Professor in American Politics at the United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney
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Chair of Academic Board, Victoria University
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Subject Co-ordinator and Lecturer, Media and Communications, The University of Melbourne
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Senior Lecturer in Security Studies, Macquarie University
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Associate Professor in American Politics and Foreign Policy, US Studies Centre, University of Sydney
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Adjunct Professor, University of Sydney
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Visiting Professor of Film, Brown University
