The paper discusses debates in modern political communication as a form of public exchange of opinions between two or more parties on topical issues; the dynamics of the attitude of Russians towards political debates from 2003 to 2018; social and political and cultural prerequisites for their role and place in the political life of modern Russia are also analyzed. The purpose of the research is to reveal the role and place of political debates as a form of political communication in modern Russia. Achieving this goal requires consideration of the characteristics and functions of debates, analysis of the reasons and nature of the audience's attitude to political debate. The methodological basis of the research is systemic and structural -functional approaches, sociological, logical and comparative methods. The empirical base is the data of the participant observation.