Yes, debates do help voters decide – and candidates are increasingly reluctant to participate

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Gibbs Knotts, College of Charleston and Vince Benigni, College of Charleston

(THE CONVERSATION) Former President Donald Trump’s decision to skip the first Republican presidential debate on Aug. 23, 2023 – and likely the others – may be a sign that candidate debates will be the next casualty of the highly polarized political environment in the United States.

“The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had …,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform. “I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!”

So, instead of sparring with his GOP rivals in the first of those debates, which will run on Fox News, Trump will release a recorded interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson on an online platform.

For Trump, the leading contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, refusing to participate in a debate is nothing new. In 2020,...