Parliamentary Debate is a two-person two-team competitive debate on a different topic each round. Each team is given the resolution for that round fifteen minutes before the round begins. Then, without the aid of any files, teams must prepare to argue for or against the resolution. As no written evidence is allowed into the round, speakers must rely on persuasive delivery and strong analytical arguments to win.
Parliamentary Debate is based on the British Parliament, and thus strange things occur. The judge is referred to as the "Speaker of the House," while the teams are referred to as the "Government" and the "Opposition." Furthermore, people will randomly stand up, placing their hand on their head. These stupid legacies are more than made up for by the fact that heckling is allowed and even encouraged.
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Institutes
| World Debate Institute | National Parliamentary Debate Workshop |
Travel Rules
Because of the low number of Parliamentary Debate tournaments in the SouthEast, in order to conserve the team budget, limitations must be made on who can compete in Parliamentary Debate.
For this purpose, a distinction is made from Returning Parliamentary Debaters and New Parliamentary Debaters. Returning Parliamentary Debaters are those that competed in five or more Parliamentary Debate tournaments the prior competitive year, while everyone else is considered a New Parliamentary Debater.
Returning Parliamentary Debaters may travel to tournaments competing solely in Parliamentary Debate, but must use any resulting free time to watch rounds of either I.E. or Policy Debate. New Parliamentary Debaters must compete in at least one prepared I.E. event (or Policy Debate if tournament allows) in order to travel and compete in Parliamentary Debate. Of course, New Parliamentary Debaters should also watch rounds whenever they have free time.
Links
Please be sure to check out the Parliamentary Debate Resources, available on our Links page.
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