Partly, the criticism seems to be based on disappointments experienced following promises made in political debates encouraging legislative reforms.
The open-ended nature of the debates encourages the mind to look beyond its own limited horizon and consider alternative beliefs.
The letter campaign was a follow-up to an effort by NARAL Pro-Choice America during the Democratic primary debates encouraging moderators to ask questions about abortion.
Mr. Stone has advised Mr. Sharpton before national debates, encouraged him to implement a "rapid response" system, and introduced him to the man who became his national campaign manager, Charles Halloran, the aides said.
As might be expected, in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, Catholicism acted as a conservative force often limiting girls' education, while in France, liberal currents within Catholicism as well as the laïcité debates encouraged innovation.
He has encouraged dialogue, encouraged debate, encouraged everyone to have an opinion, no matter what the issue is".
Presidential debates have also helped to create an environment in which policy differences can be constructively debated, encouraging people to vote for positive policy reasons rather than negative ethnic ones.
Fox News, which hosted the debate, encouraged viewers to use the Twitter hashtag #dodge to indicate when they thought candidates were not giving a straight answer — and Mr. Romney received considerably more dodges than the other candidates.
And while "Lean In" injected a note of optimism into the debate, encouraging women to negotiate for higher salaries, remarks last year by Microsoft's chief executive, Satya Nadella, suggested that progress might be slow.
The hope of a program like this is that it will inspire the kind of debate encouraged by Alain de Botton, the author of "The Architecture of Happiness" and an adviser to the project.
It is part and parcel of the sort of aggressive, adversarial approach to public debate encouraged by some of our major institutions, from the courts to the parliament to the media itself.
