This Handbook is the first major work to comprehensively map scholarship on electoral debates in comparative perspective. Leading scholars and practitioners introduce a core theoretical and conceptual framework to understand this phenomenon and point to promising directions for new research on the evolution of electoral debates.

Introduction: Image, Deliberation and Symbolic Power: Why do Electoral Debates Matter? 1. Introduction: Televised Election Debates as Spectacle and Reflection Part 1: Electoral Debates in the Americas Introduction to Electoral Debates in the Americas 2. A New Experiment for an Old Media Political Event: Leaders' Debates in Canada 3. From JFK to Trump: The Evolution of U.S. Presidential Debates 4. Did Video Kill the Rally Star? The Contribution of Presidential Debates to Democratic Change in Mexico 5. Electoral Debates Organized by the Electoral Management Body: Costa Rica 2018 6. Presidential Debates in Colombia. From Rarity to Routine 7. Electoral Debates in Peru 2001 - 2016 8. Chile: Presidential Debates, From Dictatorship To Democracy 9. Presidential Debates in Argentina 10. Televised Presidential Debates in Brazil Part 2: Europe Introduction to Europe 11. Planets Seldom Align - A Hit And The Misses Of United Kingdom TV Election Debates 12. Austria: On the Road to Peak TV Debate? 13. Swedish Election Debates: A Long Tradition Adapting to NTw times 14. From the Heavyweights' Debate to the Duel: the Development of TV Debates in Germany 15. Road to the Stadium: Televised Election Debates and "Non-Debates" in Ukraine. Between Spectacle and Democratic Instrument 16. Televised Debates in Croatia: Lost in Regulation 17. Televised Election Debates in The Netherlands: Indirect Effects on Party pPreferences through Media Coverage 18. Electoral Debates in Spain: From TV to Social Networks 19. French Television Debates: Just Audience or True Influence? Part 3: Select Cases of Electoral Debates across Different Regions Introduction to Select Cases of Electoral Debates across Different Regions 20. Presidential Debates in Iran 21. Transformation of the Electoral Debate in Japan: Its Content and Context 22. Televised Election Debates in Multi-party Taiwan 23. Electoral Debates in South Korea: From TV debates to YouTube Debates 24. The 2016 Pilipinas Debates 25. New Zealand Election Debates - Combat and Commercialism 26. Leaders Debates in Australian Elections 27. Political Showmanship: A Critical Analysis of Electoral Debates in Kenya 28. Do Debates Matter? The Past, Present and Future of Nigerian Electoral Debates