Debate is a formalized system of (usually) logical argument. It is a rule-governed contest with two sides, usually presided by a number of judges. Each side is attempting to win the approval of a designated audience, such as the judges.

Debate is a highly organized activity with teams such as the Oxford Union at the local, national, and international level.

Debate in education

Debate is popular in English-speaking universities and high schools around the world, most notably in North America, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.

Parliamentary Debate

Parliamentary debate (sometimes referred to as "Parli") is conducted under rules derived from British parliamentary procedure. It features the competition of individuals in a multi-person setting. It borrows terms such as "government" and "opposition" from the British parliament. It is commonly used in Canada.

World Universities Debating Championships

Parliamentary debating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe and Africa. Speeches are 7 min in length. 4 teams (2 on each side) use the following positions:

Opening Government: " Prime Minister" or "First Government member" and " Deputy Prime Minister" or "Second Government member";

Opening Opposition: " Leader of the Opposition" or "First Opposition member" and " Deputy Leader of the Opposition" or "Second Opposition member";

Closing Government: " Member for the Government" or "Third Government member" and " Government Whip" or "Fourth Opposition member";

Closing Opposition: " Member for the Opposition" or "Third Opposition member" and " Opposition Whip" or "Fourth Opposition member".

Speaking order is (1) Prime Minister

(2) Opposition Leader;

(3) Deputy Prime Minister;

(4) Deputy Opposition Leader;

(5) Member for the Government;

(6) Member for the Opposition;

(7) Government Whip;

(8) Opposition Whip.

Members will deliver a substantive speech of seven minutes duration and should offer points of information while members of the opposing teams are speaking.

American Parliamentary:

Parliamentary debating in North America uses the following positions:

• Government
  • Prime Minister (speaks first, and last 7 and 3 minutes respectively)
  • Minister of the Crown (speaks third for 7 minutes)
• Opposition
  • Minister of the Opposition (speaks second for 7 minutes)
  • Leader of the Opposition (speaks fourth for 10 minutes)

Some tournaments allow points of information, where an opposing team member may stand up and ask a question to the member who is debating. Depending on the country, there are variations in speaking time, speaking order, and the number of speakers. For example, in New Zealand, both the leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister offer a short summary as the last two speakers.

In the U.S. the American Parliamentary Debate Association is the oldest national parliamentary debating organization, based on the east coast and including all of the Ivy League, although the more recently founded National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA) is now the largest collegiate sponsor. In Canada, the Canadian Universities Society for Intercollegiate Debating (CUSID) is the umbrella organization for all university-level debating.

Throughout the rest of the world, parliamentary debate is what most countries know as "debating", and is the primary style practiced in the United Kingdom, Australia, India and most other nations. The premier event in the world of debate, the World Universities Debating Championship, is conducted in the British Parliamentary style.

Policy Debate

In Policy Debate is a US style of debating where two teams of two students advocate or oppose a resolution calling for a change in policy by the government. The style of argumentation features extensive use of citations and quotations from news sources and technical material. In the US, high school Policy Debate is overseen by the NFL, the CFL and the NCFCA. Collegate policy debate is overseen by the National Debate Tournament (NDT), the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA), the National Educational Debate Association, and the Great Plains Forensic Conference . Format often involves cross examination.

College debaters who participate in the format governed by the NDT and CEDA organizations tend to speak so rapidly than an audience with no debate background would find the debaters difficult or impossible to understand. The arguments are more likely to be exotic, technical, specialized, or in other ways lay-audience unfriendly, although this is not always the case. NEDA and the Great Plains Conference place more emphasis on style and substance that any informed citizen should be able to understand.

Simulated legislature Other high school debate events such as Student Congress, Model United Nations, European Youth Parliament, and the American Legion's Boys State and Girls State events are activities which are based on the premise of the contestants acting as representatives in a mock legislative body.

Moot court Moot court (simulating appellate advocacy) and Mock trial (usually simulating criminal trials) competitions for law school, undergraduate, and (in some regions) high school students are held throughout the United States.

Lincoln-Douglas debate Lincoln-Douglas Debate, is a US format of debating named after the famous series of Senate debates between the two candidates, has two participants who compete against each other. The arguments center around philosophy or abstract values, and thus it is also called a value debate . Lincoln-Douglas debate tends to require less evidence than policy debate, and thus emphasizes logic and reasoning. Most LD cases center arround a core value and a value criterion, with the value representing the highest concept that can be achieved under a given resolution and the criterion being the best way to achieve or measure the value. While there are regional variations, most good LD debates occur when both sides agree on a set value, and then must argue their criteria on the best way to achieve or measure that core value.

Debate tournaments High school speech tournaments are held every week during the season. Regional tournamnents, often held in high schools, attract other local teams. Major tournaments (such as Harvard, Oxford etc) attract students from the circuit. The various national championships attract debaters from all over the country as well as from overseas. In the US each of the national organizations hold national championship tournaments including the NFL national championships, CFL, NCFCA, CDA and NDT. The US national championships include teams from former US territories and protectorates including the Panama Canal Zone, American Samoa and Guam.

World Schools Style World Schools Style (or WSS) is a debating style fairly easy to learn.

The world's premier high school-level debating event, the World Schools Debating Championships, uses this style.

Each team has three speakers:

• First speaker of the Proposition (speaks for 8 minutes, presents the case of the Proposition, defines the motion, gives 2/3 of the arguments of the Proposition)
• First speaker of the Opposition (speaks for 8 minutes, may accept the definitions or contest them and give an alternative, rebuts Proposition arguments, presents the case of the Opposition, gives 2/3 of the arguments of the Opposition).
• Second speaker of the Proposition (speaks for 8 minutes, further develops the case of the Proposition, rebuts the arguments of the first speaker of the Opposition, gives 1/3 of the arguments of the Proposition)
• Second speaker of the Opposition (speaks for 8 minutes, further develops the case of the Opposition, rebuts the arguments given by the second speaker of the Proposition, gives 1/3 of the arguments of the Opposition)
• Third speaker of the Proposition (speaks for 8 minutes, rebuilds the case of the Proposition, rebuts the arguments of the second speaker of the Opposition, concludes case)
• Third speaker of the Opposition (speaks for 8 minutes, rebuilds the case of the Opposition, rebuts the arguments of the second speaker of the Opposition - may not introduce a new argument!)
• Reply speaker of the Opposition (speaks for 4 minutes, outlines clash point, evaluates debate, gives the final appeal ) - either the first or the second speaker of the Opposition, usually the first
• Reply speaker of the Proposition (speaks for 4 minutes, outlines clash point, evaluates debate, has the last word in protected time!) - either the first or the second speaker of the Proposition, usually the first

During main speeches, members of the opposing team may offer Points of Information to express a question or brief remark, these shall not exceed 23 seconds or three sentences. First and last minutes of main speeches as well as the entire duration of reply speeches are protected, that means, no Points of Information may be offered. There is no cross-interrogation . The Proposition has to prove the motion for a reasonable majority of cases , while it is not enough for the Opposition to present reasonable doubt.

Other forms of debate

Online debating

With the increasing popularity and availability of the Internet to people, different opinions arise frequently. This paved the way for more formalized debating websites, typically in the form of online forums or bulletin boards. The debate style is interesting, as research and well thought out points and counterpoints are possible because of the obvious lack of time restraints (although practical time restraints usually are in effect, e.g., no more than 5 days between posts, etc.). Many people use this to strengthen their points, or drop their weaker opinions on things, many times for debate in formalized debates (such as the ones listed above) or for fun arguments with friends. The ease-of-use and friendly environments make new debaters welcome to share their opinions in many communities. Examples of online debating websites are shown in the external links.

U.S. presidential debates

Since the 1976 general election, debates between presidential candidates have been a part of U.S. presidential campaigns. Unlike debates sponsored at the high school or collegiate level, the participants, format, and rules are not independently defined. Nevertheless, in a campaign season heavily dominated by television advertisements, talk radio, sound bites, and spin, they still offer a rare opportunity for citizens to see and hear the two major candidates side-by-side. The format of the presidential debates, though defined differently in every election, is typically more restrictive than many traditional formats, forbidding participants to ask each other questions and restricting discussion of particular topics to short time frames.

The presidential debates were initially sponsored by the League of Women Voters, though since 1988 the two major political parties have taken over the process. In 2004, the Citizens' Debate Commission was formed in the hope of establishing an independent sponsor for presidential debates, with a more voter-centric role in the definition of the participants, format, and rules.

See also

International University Debating

• World Universities Debating Championship
• American Parliamentary Debating Association
• Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate Debate
• North American Debating Championship
• North American Public Speaking Championship

International High School Debating

• World Schools Debating Championships
• World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championship

Other

• Spin room

National and notable local debate organizations

• National Forensic League (U.S., secondary school)
• National Debate Coaches Association (U.S., secondary school)
• Oxford Union (Oxford University)
• American Parliamentary Debating Association (U.S., collegiate)
• National Parliamentary Debate Association (U.S., collegiate)
• Cross Examination Debate Association (U.S., collegiate)
• National Debate Tournament Home Page (U.S., collegiate)

External links

International debate organizations

• International Debate Education Association
• International Public Debate Association
• Australasian Intervarsity Debating Association

Other related websites

• World Debate Website Information about university debating events around the globe
• Debate Central Wideranging debate training website. Includes several online videos
• Debate Outreach Network A resource for starting a debate team. Includes video from the Dartmouth Debate Institute
• Conversational Terrorism Delay tactics and other techniques to use in debate
• Debatepoint dot com Web-based debate software
• Debatabase Arguments for and against a wide variety of debate topics that may arise in various debate formats and styles
• British Debate Information about school and university debating in Britain