Editing Debate (section)

=== Debate between candidates for high office ===
{{Main|Leaders debate}}
In jurisdictions that [[Election|elect]] holders of high political office, such as the [[President (government title)|President]] or [[Prime Minister]], candidates sometimes debate in public, usually during a [[general election]] campaign.

==== U.S. presidential debates ====
{{Main|United States presidential election debates}}[[File:President Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale during the presidential debate on foreign policy in Louisville.jpg|thumb|[[Walter Mondale]] (left) and [[Ronald Reagan]] during the [[1984 United States presidential debates]]]]Since the [[U.S. presidential election, 1976|1976 general election]], [[American presidential debate|debates between presidential candidates]] have been a part of U.S. presidential campaigns. Unlike debates sponsored at the high school or collegiate level, the participants and format are not independently defined. Nevertheless, in a campaign season heavily dominated by [[television commercial|television advertisements]], [[talk radio]], [[soundbite|sound bites]], and [[spin (public relations)|spin]], they still offer a rare opportunity for citizens to see and hear the major candidates side by side. The format of the presidential debates, though defined differently in every election, is typically more restrictive than many traditional formats, forbidding participants to ask each other questions and restricting discussion of particular topics to short time frames.

The presidential debates were initially moderated in [[1976 United States presidential debates|1976]], [[1980 United States presidential debates|1980]], and [[1984 United States presidential debates|1984]] by the [[League of Women Voters]], and the [[Commission on Presidential Debates]] (CPD) was established in 1987 by the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] parties. The presidential debate's primary purpose is to sponsor and produce debates for the United States presidential and vice-presidential candidates in a nonpartisan environment. The organization, which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan corporation, sponsored all of the presidential debates in [[1988 United States presidential debates|1988]], [[1992 United States presidential debates|1992]], [[1996 United States presidential debates|1996]], [[2000 United States presidential debates|2000]], [[2004 United States presidential debates|2004]], [[2008 United States presidential debates|2008]], [[2012 United States presidential debates|2012]], [[2016 United States presidential debates|2016]], and [[2020 United States presidential debates|2020]], 2024

However, in announcing its withdrawal from sponsoring the debates, the League of Women Voters stated that it was withdrawing "because the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter."<ref name="lwvfraud">{{cite web | url= http://www.lwv.org/press-releases/league-refuses-help-perpetrate-fraud | title= League Refuses to "Help Perpetrate a Fraud" | first= Nancy M. | last= Neuman | date= October 2, 1988 | publisher= [[League of Women Voters]] | work= Press release | access-date= 2012-07-26 | url-status= live | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120823044254/http://www.lwv.org/press-releases/league-refuses-help-perpetrate-fraud | archive-date= August 23, 2012 }}</ref> In 2004, the [[Citizens' Debate Commission]] was formed in the hope of establishing an independent sponsor for presidential debates, with a more voter-centric role in the definition of the participants, format, and rules.