Parliamentary debate

Parliamentary Debate is an academic debate event. Most university level institutions in English speaking nations sponsor parliamentary debate teams, but the format is currently spreading to the high school level as well. Despite the name, the Parliamentary style is not related to debates in governmental parliaments.

British Parliamentary Debate

"British Parliamentary" debate is very widespread, and has gained major support in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe, Africa, and United States. It has also been adopted as the official style of the World Universities Debating Championship and the European Universities Debating Championship (at which the speakers are given only fifteen minutes' notice of the motion). Speeches are usually between five and seven minutes in duration. The debate consists of four teams of two speakers, called "factions", with two factions on either side of the case.

Because of the style's origins in British parliamentary procedure, the two sides are called the "Government" and "Opposition", while the speakers take their titles from those of their parliamentary equivalents (such as the opening Government speaker, called the "Prime Minister"). Furthermore, since this style is based on parliamentary debate, each faction is considered to be one of two parties in a coalition. They must therefore differentiate themselves from the other faction on their side of the case in order to succeed in their own right.

All speakers are required to offer Points of Information (POIs) to their opposing speakers. POIs are particularly important in "British Parliamentary" style, as it allows the first two factions to maintain their relevance during the course of the debate, and the last two factions to introduce their arguments early in the debate. The first and last minute of each speech is considered "protected time", during which no Point of information may be offered.

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.

American Parliamentary Debate

"American Parliamentary Debate" is supported by a number of organizations in the United States at the tertiary and secondary levels. The National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA), the American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA), the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence (NPTE), and the Lincoln Parliamentary League (LPL), all offer collegiate parliamentary debate.

This style consists of two teams, with the following speakers:
#Government
##"Prime Minister" (PM)
## "Member of the Government" (MG)
#Opposition
##"Leader of the Opposition" (LO)
##"Member of the Opposition" (MO)

"American Parliamentary" style debating includes an additional speech from the Leader of each team, in which they are allowed additional time to respond to the opposing team's arguments and sum up their own case, but may not introduce new arguments. Therefore, the speaking order and timings of each debate is generally:

#"Prime Minister": 7 minutes
#"Leader of the Opposition": 8 minutes
#"Minister of the Government": 8 minutes
#"Member of the Opposition": 8 minutes
#"Leader of the Opposition Rebuttal": 4 minutes
#"Prime Minister Rebuttal": 5 minutes

As with any debating style, the individual timings may vary between organizations.

In most variations on the style, Points of Information may be asked of the speaker during the first four speeches, except during the first and last minute of each speech (this is known as "protected time"). Under California High School Speech Association (CHSSA) rules, Points of Information are permitted in all six speeches.

Depending on the variation of the style, the opposing team may interrupt the speaker during a Rebuttal Speech in order to offer one of two kinds of point:

*"Points of Order", when the speaker is introducing a new argument or grossly mischaracterizing arguments.
*"Points of Personal Privilege", when the speaker makes offensive claims, or personal attacks.

The spirit of Parliamentary Debate is debate that can be taken to the streets. This means that it is easy to understand and educational to all at the same time, no matter the audience member's expertise of the resolution.

The audience is encouraged to show their fervor during Parliamentary Debate. As in British Parliament, anyone in the room (excluding the judge) may cheer or hiss - alternatively, knock in approval or "shame" in disapproval - at any point during a round.

World Schools Style

This is a combination of the British Parliamentary and Australian formats, which results in a debate comprising eight speeches delivered by two three-member teams (the Proposition and the Opposition). Each speaker delivers an eight-minute speech - the first two are substansive matter and the third a rebuttal speech; then both teams deliver a "reply speech" lasting four minutes, with the last word being reserved for the Proposition. In junior debates, these limits are changed to about 5 minutes, and in some local competitions, speeches are 7 minutes.

Between the end of the first and the beginning of the last minute of an eight-minute speech, the opposing party may offer "points of information". The speaker may refuse these, but should take at least one or two points during his or her speech. No points of order or Privilege are used.

Topics can be supplied long in advance, or may be given 45 minutes or an hour before the debate begins. There is not much room for re-definition, and squirreling is strictly prohibited. The World Schools Debating Championships is attended by many countries, and is in this format.

A similar format, with 7 minute speeched and Points-of-Information, is known as the Asian Parlamentary Format and is used by both Asian Universities Debating Championship and the All-Asian Intervarsity Debating Championships

References

ee also

*Public debate
*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
**National Parliamentary Debate Association
**National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence

*International high school debating
**World Schools Debating Championships
**World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championship

** [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debate#Australia-Asia_debate] Debate

*Other
**Spin room

External links

*International debate organizations
** [http://www.ipdadebate.org/ International Public Debate Association]
** [http://www.aidaonline.org/ Australasian Intervarsity Debating Association]
** [http://www.debating.net/aida/ Australasian Intervarsity Debating Association (2002-3)]
** [http://www.apdaweb.org/ American Parliamentary Debate Association] United States collegiate parliamentary debte organization.
** [http://www.parlidebate.org/ National Parliamentary Debate Association] United States collegiate parliamentary debate organization.
** [http://npte.debateaddict.com/ National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence] Sponsors U.S.-based parliamentary rankings system and national invitational championship.
** [http://npdl.net/ National Parliamentary Debate League] United States high school parliamentary debate organization.
** [http://www.learndebating.com/ 'Debating': A free online 'how-to' guide] (A free 200-page debating book written by a former winner of the World Schools Debating Championship)
** [http://www.debateleaders.org/ Associated Leaders of Urban Debate] - A national organization promoting debate to the general public
** [http://www.debating.net/flynn/ World Debate Website] - Information about university debating events around the globe

*Recordings
** [http://www.parlidebate.com Parlidebate.com] - Video and audio recordings of APDA, BP, CUSID and NPDA debate rounds.