A political debate is a discussion between two or more people about topics related to government and politics. These discussions can be conducted face-to-face, online or in a formal setting like a debate club or forum. The purpose of a political debate is to encourage critical thinking and understanding of different points of view.

Political debates are important because they can help people learn how to articulate their beliefs and opinions clearly and persuasively, and to evaluate evidence objectively. In addition, political debates can teach us how to engage in a constructive and respectful argument.

The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is an independent, non-profit organization that organizes debates between and among leading candidates for the President of the United States. The debates are a part of the campaign for the presidency and are typically broadcast on TV.

In the past, Republicans have criticized the CPD as biased against them. In April, several Senate candidates in Ohio refused to participate in a debate sponsored by the CPD, arguing that the organization’s moderators had treated previous Republican nominees unfairly.

In this article, we report a new study that uses a large, random sample to compare participants’ experience with and predictions about a particular debate. Participants were asked to answer a series of questions and then provide a freely recalled debate experience. The results show that perceptions of an interlocutor’s arguments and behavior are predictive of whether or not a participant provides a high-quality reply to a debate question. For example, perceiving an interlocutor as giving good arguments and being open-minded increases the likelihood of a high-quality reply, while perceiving an interlocutor is disrespectful decreases it.