Part I. The setting
A very peculiar horse race / Richard F. Carter
The making of the debates / Herbert E. Alexander and Joel Margolis
A comparative perspective on presidential debates : issue evolution in 1960 and 1976 / Robert G. Meadow and Marilyn Jackson-Beck
Part II. Effects of communications context
The formation of public opinion : direct and mediated effects of the first debate / Gladys Engel Lang and Kurt Lang
Public response to Gerald Ford's statements on Eastern Europe in the second debate / Frederick T. Steeper
Part III. Cognitive and behavioral consequences of the debates
Problems in measuring audience effects of the 1976 debates / Doris A. Graber
Debates' effects on voters' understanding of candidates and issues / Lee B. Becker ... [et al.]
Persistence and change in candidate images / Dan Nimmo, Michael Mansfield, James Curry
The impact of the 1976 presidential debates : conversion or reinforcement? / Paul R. Hagner and Leroy N. Rieselbach
The presidential debates as a device for increasing the "rationality" of electoral behavior / George F. Bishop, Robert W. Oldendick, Alfred J. Tuchfarber
Summary and conclusion
Part IV. Transcripts of the 1976 presidential and vice-presidential debates
Ascertainment and analysis of debate content.