To grasp what happened to the institutionalization of presidential debates in 1988 it will be useful to ask what is the future of party sponsorship of presidential debates. Given that sponsorship has been an issue discussed after every debate since 1960, either from a legal perspective (i.e. who can sponsor and remain in compliance with Federal Communication Commission regulations) or from the perspective of who can best produce debates, the formation of the Commission on Presidential Debates in 1987 could be viewed as an idea whose time had arrived. A comparison of the goals for the commission and the actual events that occurred during the 1988 presidential campaign indicates that the commission did not succeed fully in achieving its mission. There were debates, but not as many or on the dates and in the places scheduled. There are several reasons why the debate over the debates occurred again in 1988: a struggle between the Commission and the League of Women Voters over sponsorship; the candidates themselves; and political realities. The fact that the debates did occur moves presidential debates one step closer to being institutionalized. The commission did not achieve all of its goals, but a mechanism is now in place which can coordinate research and planning to improve future debates. (Thirty-four notes are provided and an appendix includes a listing of the commission's board of directors and advisory board members, and the criteria for determining third party candidates' debate participation. (MS)