THE ELECTION WILL BE TELEVISED: leaders’ debates and democracy
In this episode:
The UK was late to the party on holding TV election debates. What can we learn from other countries about how to do them well? Nick Anstead talks us through why we avoided debates for so long and where we’re still going wrong. US expert Diana Carlin explains the history of presidential debates and why she thinks they’ve been good for democracy. Then Graham Fox discusses Canada’s recent experience of overhauling how their debates are run.
And comedian Pierre Novellie returns to pick apart the first week of the General Election campaign.
Guests
Nick Anstead (@NickAnstead), associate professor in the Department of Media & Communications at LSE
Diana Carlin, emeritus professor of communication at Saint Louis University
Graham Fox (@Graham Fox), president of the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) in Canada
Pierre Novellie (@Pierre Novellie ), comedian
More info
Debates in the UK
HoC Library: Televised debates between party leaders (Nov 2019)
LSE blogs: Nick Anstead: The backroom deal proves it - the UK needs an Independent Debate Commission(Nov 2019)
Electoral Reform Society: Debating the TV debates (Dec 2017)
LSE briefing: Nick Anstead: TV Debates in Parliamentary Democracies (Jan 2015)
Debates in the US and Canada
IRPP: Creating an Independent Commission for Federal Leaders’ Debates (Apr 2018)
Vox: Fixing the debates: a better way to interrupt (Oct 2016)
Annenberg Public Policy Center: Democratizing the debates (Jun 2015)
NYT: Diana Carlin: Debates are the most valuable form of presidential campaign communication (Oct 2012)