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General Campaign Presidential Debates Do Debates Influence Voters? Many studies have been conducted on the effects of presidential debates. Research demonstrates that presidential debates can impart issue knowledge, change perceptions of the candidates' personality, and change vote preference. Debates do not appear to influence perceptions of the candidates' leadership ability and debates do not appear to have an effect on which policy issues are most important to voters (no agenda-setting effect). Of course, debates do not inform everyone or change the attitudes of everyone. Debates can reinforce viewers' pre-debate preferences. Some evidence suggests that debates may help citizens learn more about challengers than incumbents (after all, the incumbent has been president for four years; most people knew more about President Bill Clinton than Senator Bob Dole in 1996). |
Presidential Debates Background: How Many People Resources on
Television Spots Background:
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| Home | Primary Campaign | Nominating Conventions | General Campaign | News Coverage of Campaigns | 2008 Presidential Campaign | copyright © 2004 The Curators
of the University of Missouri This Web site is made possible through the support of Contact the Web editor: William Benoit |
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