Karl Popper Debate Format
raunak sharan
American Parliamentary Debate Format (Wikipedia)
Flow of the round
A round of debate features two teams of two debaters each: the Government team, including the Prime Minister and the Member of Government, and the Opposition team, including the Leader of the Opposition and the Member of the Opposition.
Six speeches in all are delivered, varying in length:
- Prime Minister's Constructive: 7 minutes
- Leader of the Opposition's Constructive: 8 minutes
- Member of Government: 8 minutes
- Member of the Opposition: 8 minutes
- Leader of the Opposition's Rebuttal: 4 minutes
- Prime Minister's Rebuttal: 5 minutes
[edit]Points of information
A debater may rise to ask a point of information (POI) of an opponent during the opponent's speech. POIs are only permitted during the first four speeches, though prohibited in the first and final minutes of each speech. The speaking debater can choose to hear the POI or to dismiss it politely. Traditionally when standing on a point of information some debaters extend one hand palm up, holding the back of the head with the other. This pose originated in old British Parliamentary etiquette: an MP would adopt the position to secure his wig and show that he was not carrying a weapon.[3] It is generally considered good form to accept at least two POIs during a speech.
[edit]Resolutions
In most rounds, there is no resolution, and the Government team may propose whatever case it wishes consistent with the standards below. Certain tournaments provide both teams with a motion to which the case must conform 15 minutes before the round starts.
Since the Opposition team arrives at the round with no prior knowledge of the case, some kinds of resolutions are not permitted to ensure a fair debate. If Opposition feels that the round fits any one of these categories, they may point this out during the Leader's speech. If the judge agrees, Opposition wins. There are five kinds of disallowed resolutions:
- tight resolutions, which are deemed too one-sided (“racism is bad”, for example);
- truisms (“Barack Obama was the greatest Democratic president of the U.S. since Bill Clinton”);
- tautologies (“Good citizens should help the poor,” with goodness defined as "a willingness to do charitable acts");
- status quo resolutions (“The United States should have jury trials”);
- specific-knowledge cases, i.e., cases which are unfair toward the Opposition team because they require highly obscure knowledge to oppose effectively ("NASA should replace the current sealant used on the space shuttle with hypoxynucleotide-C4598")
Aside from these five limitations, virtually any topic for debate is fair game, as long as there are two coherent and debatable sides. Debaters may also present opp-choice cases, in which the government team offers the opposition team the chance to choose which side of a topic the government team will defend in the round.
[edit]Adjudication
A judge listens to the round and provides quantitative and qualitative assessments of the round as a whole and of the individual speakers. Some rounds use a panel of judges. Judges are usually debaters themselves, but non-debater judges, or lay judges, are sometimes used.
[edit]Compared to other styles
The APDA style is generally seen as occupying a middle ground between the styles of CUSID and NPDA. It is somewhat more rule-oriented and structured than the CUSID style, as point-by-point argumentation and careful structure are considered very important. It also emphasizes detailed analysis and de-emphasizes oratory as compared to CUSID. However, APDA style is less structured and theoretical than the NPDA style, and demands less use of technical debate formalisms.