Three new approaches in the field of competitive academic debate offer ideas that could help presidential debates serve both their public purposes.
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
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.
Donald Trump hovered behind Hillary Clinton for large stretches of the debate.
Reuters/Rick Wilking
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.
Protesters wearing masks of presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump march in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Dominick Reuter/Reuters
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.
Donald Trump answers a question from CNN moderator Wolf Blitzer.
Mike Blake/Reuters
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.
As much as we like to think that we vote on substance – not style – studies have shown that physical appearance matters to voters.
Carlo Allegri/Reuters
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…
Debates can change a campaign, as the US experience has shown.
EPA/Rick Wilking
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 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…