선거는 민주주의의 꽃으로 불린다. 그렇다고 모든 선거가 민주주의에 기여하는 것은 아니다. 선거가 민주주의에 기여할 수 있으려면 대안적인 선택이 가능하고 유권자의 선택이 합리적이어야 한다. 즉, 정책이 다른 후보들이 경쟁해야 하고, 유권자는 후보들의 정책을 잘 알고서 후보를 선택해야 한다. 민주주의에 기여하는 선거가 되려면 후보들은 자신들의 정책을 유권자들에게 잘 알리고 유권자는 후보들의 정책을 잘 알기 위해 노력해야 하는 것이다. 따라서 민주주의를 위한 선거라면 후보들이 자신들의 정책을 알리고, 타후보들의 정책과 자신의 정책과의 차별성을 부각시킬 수 있는 수단이 필요하게 된다. 그 수단은 동시에 유권자가 후보들의 정책과 그 차별성을 파악하는 데 도움을 주는 것이어야 한다. 다행히 후보자 텔레비전 토론이 그런 수단이 될 수 있다. 게다가 오늘날 텔레비전은 편재하고 남녀노소 누구나 쉽게 접할 수 있기 때문에 후보자 텔레비전 토론은 잘만 운영하면 진정한 민주적선거 운동 수단이 될 수 있다. 이런 점에서 이 연구는 대통령선거 후보자 텔레비전 토론회가 비난과 비방의 장이 아니라 진지한 정책 대결의 장이 될 수 있도록 하기 위한 방안을 논의하였다.

Election is called “the flower of democracy”. But all elections do not contribute to democracy. If it can contribute to democracy, it have to offer alternative choices and the choice of electorate should be reasonable. In other words, there must be competition among candidates who are different in platforms and policies, and electorate have to vote after knowing candidates` platforms and policies. For democracy to stand and progress, candidates have to make their platforms and policies known to electorate, and in turn, electorate have to do their best to know candidates` platforms and policies. In order to make an election contributable to democracy, therefore, candidates must have a means to make their platforms and policies known to electorate, and to distinguish their platforms and policies from those of other candidates. And the means should be such a one as to make electorate easily grasp the platforms and policies of candidates and differences among them. Fortunately, candidates` television debate could be such a means. Thanks to television`s ubiquity and accessibility, television debate, if well-organized, can be a democratic means for election campaign. Television debate can be also a useful means for political reform, because it can bust money politics. Considering this positive aspect of television debate, authorities concerned such as National Election Commission and Broadcasting Commission should recommend and institutionalize television debates between candidates. Broadcasting companies should hold as many television debates as possible, because it contributes to their public service, thus increasing their status, and because its viewer rating is usually high. Broadcasting companies should hold more debates other than the ones stipulated by the Election Act, and help electorate fully grasp platforms and policies of candidates. To candidates, television debate is a best means to inform electorate about their platforms and abilities without money. Needless to say, candidates should be subject to testing of their ability and policies. Accordingly, candidates should ask broadcasting companies to hold television debates and participate in it. In all these cases, debates should be organized in a way that they can test candidates` platforms and policies to be useful to electorate in their voting. Thus this paper tries to probe into the ways to make television debates between candidates become a productive forum for policy confrontations.