How do political debates lead to increased political participation?

HOW DO POLITICAL DEBATES LEAD TO INCREASED POLITICAL PARTICIPATION? Course Professor’s Name University City (State) Date Introduction Political debates are an essential part of a democratic society. In modern times, democracies are facing the issue of ill-informed decision-making and immobilized electorates (Sunay 2012). The political debates solve this issue by giving political contenders a platform to put their visions, plans, and policies before voters to inculcate political conscience. Fundamentally, these debates serve as points where two competing ideas or ideologies interact to persuade more support for them among the listeners and play fundamental roles in shaping the political landscape of society by promoting informed decision-making, engagement of voters, mobilization of maximum numbers of electorate and thus, leading to increased political participation. Other than political leaders, civil society actors also engage in debates to highlight hidden societal issues to the public. These debates work as an effective tool in augmenting voters' knowledge, influencing their preferences, and increasing voter turnout during elections. These debates can also contribute to creating polarization in society. This essay explores the various ways by which political debates lead to increased public engagement in the democratic process, analyzing the effectiveness of debates, as well as the implications and challenges of the political process. The case studies and pieces of evidence around the globe portray that debates have the potential to augment political participation. However, political debate does not influence voters' preferences in some political environments. It fails to increase political participation due to factors such as the public's accessibility to debates, the content of debates, and the credibility of debates. Therefore, political participation can be increased through political debates as they increase the number of informed electors and mobilize the voters; however, there are several constraints to overcome to make these debates more effective in enhancing political participation for robust democracies. Political Participation and Political Debate: A Bird's Eye View Political participation is one of the fundamentals of a functional democracy. High political participation reflects a vibrant democratic culture where the masses engage in the political process not just by casting their vote but also by being active in campaigns, contacting public officeholders, and engaging in public or communal matters (Weiss 2021). This public participation leads to the election of energetic and hardworking representatives in the parliament who legislate on the voters' behalf. However, low public participation weakens the democratic structure of a state. It weakens the public representation in the parliament owing to the election of representatives with few electoral votes. It damages the voters' diversity in the parliament. Low participation also leads to low accountability of the leaders (Weiss 2021). Poorly informed masses lacking knowledge of democratic rights fail to hold the accountable political leader for lack of transparency. Political debate can be defined as a structured discussion between two or most individuals on national topics, where every contender outlines their vision about the prevalent issues in the nation and shares their manifesto. These debates are used for various political purposes, making them an effective tool to augment democratic engagement and the election process. For instance, the digital political debates on television in the United States augmented democratic engagement (McKinney and Spialek 2017). The first televised presidential debate between Kennedy and Nixon allowed both candidates to put forward their plans for the nation if they won the elections. This allowed the public of the United States to engage in political debates across the broad spectrum of society to decide the upcoming president of the country. Like television, the parliaments are also utilized as a platform for political debates in parliamentary democracies such as the United Kingdom and Australia (Back et al. 2021). The parliamentarians engage in a spirited exchange of words to praise, criticize, and evaluate laws that are best for their constituents. Lastly, these debates also take place on local levels, aiming to inculcate democratic ethos in the masses from the grassroots level and create political consciousness. Debate on this level occurs between the candidates of municipal offices, where they engage with the voters at community levels. Evolution of Political Debates Historically, the political debates can be traced back to the birthplace of democracy, Athens. Public debates were often held on political matters in ancient Greece. However, these debates in Greece frequently occurred in open-air places such as amphitheaters in front of a crowd (Sennett 2016). These political debates were used to make important state decisions by discussing them in front of the public. After the open-air places of Greece, these debates made their way to the king's court, but here, the power was concentrated into the office of a monarch. However, political matters came into houses from kings' courts, such as parliaments (Boucoyannis 2021). The rise of republics, such as the United States, and the democratization of Europe in the Enlightenment era led to a political shift in the Western hemisphere after the masses started to demand their inalienable rights (CFR 2023). Thus, with the power to elect their representatives, people trusted and voted for individuals who could preserve their rights in parliaments. Hence, it led to the rise of classical political debates centered in the parliament houses. The major innovation in print media brought a dramatic shift in political debates. Before these inventions, debates were held between the leaders and civil society actors in closed parliament houses to which the general public had no access. However, modern political debates based on format and substance have occurred in the U.S. (McKinney and Spialek 2017). Lincoln and Douglas's debate used a format where one candidate talks a period, followed by a short rebuttal from the other candidate. These debates led to Lincoln's popularity due to the print media's coverage, eventually leading to the White House in 1860. The success of Lincoln gave political debate prominence and made political debates a permanent part of the American political system. The next step in the evolution of the debates came with the invention of radio and television. The format-substance-based debates between the leaders on television allowed large crowds to watch their leaders and listen to their plans for the country (McKinney and Spialek 2017). The first instance of such debates was the televised Kennedy-Nixon, which allowed Americans to elect a leader with better ideas to resolve American issues. After the debates, Kennedy persuaded Americans with his vision for society and successfully made it to the White House. Thus, the use of technology in the debates was later set to morph into an essential part of the election campaign used today worldwide. Political Debates Work As An Effective Tool To Foster Political Participation Political debate works as an effective tool to foster public engagement in the political process of a nation. It plays a significant role in increasing voters' knowledge of political developments and issues. For instance, in the 2000s, Americans were vocal about public healthcare in the U.S. The presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain in 2008, watched by millions on digital media, was centered on the issue of healthcare in the United States (Degani 2015). This debate fostered support for candidates to make a strong case for healthcare through political participation. Therefore, the discussion on healthcare worked for Barack Obama, which led to his victory in the 2008 election. After winning the election, Obama enacted the Affordable Care Act to keep his promise in the debates (Degani 2015). This concludes that political debate increases voters' knowledge and persuades them to vote for the best candidate. Moreover, political debates in the public sphere also lead to inciting the interest of the masses in politics. Those who are never affiliated with any political party or ideology tend to show interest in the nation's political discourse after listening to political debates. Political debates serve a...