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Six tips for understanding the debates

donkey_elephant_debatecrop-1024x874With all the rhetoric floating around, how do we get the most out of watching a debate? In the latest edition of Washington magazine, writer Rosalind Early polled five experts from across the Washington University in St. Louis campus and asked them what to look out for while watching the debates this fall — including the one right here on our campus Oct. 9.

Among those polled: the School of Law’s Greg Magarian, professor of law and noted constitutional scholar; Steve Smith, the Kate M. Gregg Distinguished Professor of Social Science, professor of political science in Arts & Sciences and director of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy; Julia Staffel, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy in Arts & Sciences and an expert on the nature of rational and irrational belief; Andrew Reeves, associate professor of political science who teaches classes on American elections and voting behavior; and junior Caroline Moore, a member of the university’s debate team.

Five experts — six tips. Read what they are here.