Leaders' debate

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon for the 1960 election in the United States.

A leaders' debate or presidential debate is a

voters. They are normally broadcast live on radio, television and the Internet
. The events may be organized by media corporations or non-government organizations.

Leaders' debates are often popular with voters, whose decisions might be greatly influenced by the outcome. Leaders have occasionally attempted to use

props (such as charts or signs bearing slogans
) during a debate with varying degrees of success.

History

Precursors to television debates were the candidate forums

American presidential debate would be, because in the latter case the American political parties have explicitly nominated the named individuals as their candidates for president and vice president
.

Format

The exact format for a leaders' debate varies, but normally the debate will begin with each leader making a short opening statement. Then a panel of well-known

moderator
will usually attempt to exercise some control through all of this, and then stop the debate after time has elapsed so the next question can be asked. After the panelists finish asking questions, each leader will make his or her closing remarks and the debate will end.

Who gets invited to participate in a leaders' debate is often a sensitive issue. Some jurisdictions may have dozens of fringe political parties which few networks would care to have participating in their debates. For the sake of brevity, and to ensure the leaders of the main parties have adequate time to address voters on a wide range of issues, it is extremely rare for any leaders' debate to have more than five leaders. A more common number would be three while Australia has two. Leaders' debates are often restricted to parties which elected representatives in the previous election. Exceptions may be made for parties with close to a full slate of candidates, but this is not always the case. For example, in

Alberta Alliance was excluded from the Albertan provincial leaders debate, even though both parties had full slates in their respective elections. Parties that are excluded will often complain bitterly about their exclusion, sometimes claiming that the political establishment has conspired in an effort to keep their party on the political fringe. The inclusion of certain parties in debates can be controversial too. A common complaint about the Canadian debates is voiced by a report from the Centre for the Study of Democracy, which calls for the Bloc Québécois, a party only active in mostly French-speaking Quebec, to be removed from its current position in the English-language debates.[2]

In Georgia, debates were often so heated that the debaters would be placed in separate rooms.[3]

The

Peter Poroshenko and Zelensky, in front of nearly 30,000 spectators.[4]

Participating countries

The following countries hold leaders' debates:[5]

References

  1. ^ Lapsansky-Werner, Emma J. United States History: Modern America. Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2011. Print. Page 505
  2. The Ottawa Citizen. September 15, 2009. Retrieved October 3, 2009. [dead link
    ]
  3. ^
    ISBN 9781784530853
    . Retrieved 12 January 2019 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "Сколько людей пришло на дебаты Порошенко — Зеленский на стадионе | Факты ICTV". 20 April 2019.
  5. ^ "All eyes on the leaders' debates". The Guardian. Martin Kettle. April 7, 2010. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
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