I took a speach class in college and part of it was holding debates. We were taught that debates were "organized arguements" where two or more people take opposing sides. each side states their claim (arguement for or against something) and then they back that claim up with proof that will uphold their claim. once both sides have stated their claim and given their proof they leave it up to their audiance to decide for themselves which side or which issues on both sides that they agree with.

An example of a debate is -

Presidents have televized debates where both the democrats and republican parties state their position on specific issues such as welfare reform, or abortion and then each side gives their proof that will uphold their statements. once both the democratic party and the republican party have stated their claim on an issue and backed it up with their proof they leave it up to the USA citizens to decide for their self where they stand on those issues and vote for which ever candidate they feel will uphold what they the citizens believe in while the candidate is in the presidency position of office.