Political knowledge, political interest and political trust are key elements in contemporary democracies. Yet, these attitudes are declining in contemporary political systems. Therefore, research has sought ways to reinvigorate these political attitudes, as for instance through democratic innovations. In this study, we will explore the effects of such an innovation, a political debate. We will explore which kinds of characteristics of the debate enhance political attitudes among young people. We will do this through measuring the attitudes of respondents before and after a debate in 30 groups before the elections of 2014. Second, the adolescent who leads the debate will also assess his own debating skills as well as the quality of the debate. Third, an external evaluator will evaluate the debate as well on several criteria. This debate and the different evaluations, will allow us to assess which aspects truly matter for developing political skills.
