Debate The Essentials Ariail, Robert. “Let the Debates Begin.” 18 Aug orig. published in The State, South Carolina. 26 Sept

Debate Defined A regulated discussion of a resolution by two (matched) sides.  Formal or informal  Policy Debate  Lincoln-Douglas Participants prepare and present speeches on opposite sides of the issue to determine who has the strongest argument.

THE BASICS

Resolution/Proposition A statement that recommends a change in policy. ◦ Deals with a controversial questioncontroversial question ◦ Argued by the affirmative side. ◦ Essentially, a call for change

Example Resolutions Resolved: The US federal government should establish a policy substantially decreasing the rates of obesity related diseases in America. Resolved: The US federal government should establish a policy requiring mandatory uniforms in all public schools

Policy Debate Two-on-two Everyone agrees there is an issue to be solved. Affirmative team argues for change (how to fix it) Negative team argues against affirmative team (listens for flaws in their plan)

Status Quo The existing state of affairs This is what the negative side can argue:negative side ◦ To keep things they way they are now (because the AFF plan is worse than what exists)

Cross Examination Brief period during which participants directly question their opponent. ◦ Each team member will participate in cross- examination during each debate.

Rebuttal Last speech for each team. Refutes and attacks the opposition’s arguments. Summarizes own points. While a constructive speech builds an argument, a rebuttal rebuilds or repeats the strongest points of the argument after it’s been attacked. Each team chooses who presents this

Burden of Proof Affirmative responsibility to show need for change (because of harms) and to provide a method. Because the affirmative side seeks the change from the status quo, it has the obligation to present arguments for why the change is necessary and possible.

SPECIFIC TASKS AND INFO

Debate Format 5 minutes each constructive speech 2 minutes cross-examination after each constructive 3 minutes each rebuttal

Affirmative Side Presents the plan for change. Seeks the change offered in the resolution Always begins and ends the debate Covers all the stock issues successfully to defend their plan

Stock Issues Harms Inherency Plan Solvency Topicality Disadvantages

Plan The affirmative side’s outline for change Five “planks” of a plan: 1.Mandates: What will be done? 2.Administration: Who will do it? 3.Enforcement: How will it be enforced? 4.Funding: How will it be financed? 5.Intent: We agree if we make the plan, it will become law. The affirmative team can come up with ANYTHING THEY WANT that is legal.

Negative Side Explains why AFF plan is not good Three ways to do this: 1.May make problem worse or cause more problems than it solves 2.Can agree that there is a problem with status quo, but that there is a better way to solve it than AFF’s plan (create a counterplan) 3.Can argue AFF plan does not fit within framework of resolution

Delivery Relies on: ◦ Use of voice ◦ Use of body Should be the three Cs: ◦ Credible ◦ Confident ◦ Competent

Counterplan Basics Compete against AFF policy Parts: ◦ Text- explanation of what it does; just like AFF plan ◦ Competition- explanation of why counterplan should be preferred over the plan ◦ Solvency- explanation of how the counterplan fixes the affirmative problem ◦ Net benefits- reasons why the counterplan is better than the plan