US Presidential debates - free academic resources.

This week the US presidential election campaign debates start . According to the Wall Street Journal 34% of US voters said that their choice was influenced by them.

Here are some recommended resources for academic research.

What are the debates when will they take place?

The bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) plans to hold four debates for the 2016 U.S. presidential general election, in September and October 2016 – three of them involving presidential nominees and one involving vice-presidential nominees.The first debate will be held on September 26.
Another debate is being organised by Fair and Free elections.

News services
The following have news on the debates plus polls.
News Central  (independent site)- debate schedule   
election app

CNN
News app

Real Clear Politics.

Google Trends

Debates international covers political campaign debates worldwide it includes news and academic research on their relevance to elections

Social Media

MIT Media Lab’s Electome Project will be analyzing Twitter conversations about the election and will be offering a web-based dashboard in the debate site media filing centers that journalists can use to track and visualize how these conversations are changing before, during and after each debate.
The Social Media Analytic Command Center at Illinois State University will be examining the debates through public conversations from social media outlets, popular websites, and major blogs from eight different states. On their website and social media accounts, SMACC researchers will be displaying these social media conversations in dynamic charts, graphs, and other visualizations.

History

The Museum has clips from all earlier televised debates from the 1960s onwards  and a well written history of them. from 1960-2000 there are clips and photos from 2000 onwards video films.There are also classroom activities.

The Commission on presidential debates has transcripts from 1960 onwards.
C-span has online videos from presidential debates from 1988 onwards 

Teaching materials
C-Span classroom has a large collection of materials for teachers.
Bill of Rights Institute has lesson plans for educators.

Useful comment
New Yorker - is the system broken?
Debates international covers political campaign debates worldwide it includes news and academic research on their relevance to elections