A debate was a type of conversation between two or more opposing sides.
Sarah Jane Smith once wrote a story about a series of debates between several of the Doctor's companions. The debates concerned who should live when told by K9 that the collapsing TARDIS they were on could only support six people. (PROSE: Balloon Debate)
At the dawn of the universe, the first act of vandalism occurred when a cliff face on Planet One was defaced by River Song. She had wrote a message to the Doctor saying the words "hello sweetie" with a set of temporal co-ordinates. (TV: The Pandorica Opens) However, academics would spend millennia debating the meaning of the graffiti. (PROSE: Time Traveller's Diary)
United States presidential elections had televised debates. In 1960, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon took part in a debate. Nixon refused to allow make-up assistants to work on him, and as a result looked more pale and sweaty during the debate compared to the youthful Kennedy. It was widely believed that this debate had decided that year's election for Kennedy. (PROSE: Tricky Dicky)
Pete Tyler explained to the Tenth Doctor that the people of Pete's World debated what should happen to the Cybermen after they were sealed in their factories. The debate allowed the Cybermen to make plans and infiltrate the Torchwood of the Doctor's universe. (TV: Doomsday)
After a terrorist bombing at the Time Lord Academy, Romana II had a political debate with Inquisitor Darkel and wanted to put her and Coordinator Narvin on trial for their actions. (AUDIO: Imperiatrix)