Parliamentary Debate
Parly is a form of formal debate which is typical of many meetings which are governed by Roberts Rules of Order; e.g. city council, school boards, or any meeting in which a group of people are "in charge" of the meeting but the meeting is still open to the public. The main purpose behind the Rules of Order is to allow a minority voice to be heard without allowing it to dominate. I will not teach you all the rules of order, or even very many, but you will gain experience in presenting your ideas, answering questions, responding in follow up speeches, and controlling a meeting. You may have participated in such meetings before but remember, no one really likes a showoff so don't worry about knowing or using the intricacies of parliamentary procedure.
Objectives:
1. To allow you to speak in a semi-formal setting with notes and evidence. This should reduce some anxiety about just speaking impromptu which you will be doing later.
2. To get you thinking critically of and about your arguments and the arguments of others.
3. To provide an overview to the entire debating process and the three types of debate propositions we will be using this semester.
4. To begin applying stases questions during a debate.
General Procedure:
1. Each of you will be responsible for researching one topic and turning in evidence
2. The first day of Congress will be a practice session. I will pre-assign speakers who will present their cases--for and against--on topics which all of you have researched.
Student Congress:
Rules:
1. Assigned Speakers per topic (Affirmative and Negative) 2:00 per person
(THESE ARE PREPARED)
2. Questions from audience after each speaker 2:00
3. Subsequent speeches from members of the audience (1 ˝ minutes each)
(THESE ARE NOT PREPARED—IMPROMPTU)
4. Call for vote
Format:
Affirmative 2:00
Cross Exam 2:00
Negative 2:00
Cross exam 2:00
Continue with prepared speeches, alternating between Affirmative and Negative
speakers
Subsequent Speakers (Aff, Neg, Aff, Neg, etc.) (1:00 each)
Closing speeches from first affirmative speaker and first negative speaker 1:00
Vote.
Duties:
Chair opens the meeting by reading the proposition and calling the affirmative speaker forward. Chair calls on members of the audience for questions and handles and procedural questions. These usually include extending time for a speaker if they run out of time, and tallying the votes for the proposition at the end of the session.
The affirmative speaker must present a case which explains to and persuades the audience as to a current harm that exists now and how the proposition will help solve, along with the advantages of solving the problem.
The negative speaker has three options: (1) explain how the proposition, if adopted, will create more harms, (2) how the present system (status quo) is still the best way of dealing with the problem or (3) how the affirmative case will not solve the problem. The negative can also combine some of these three strategies.
TR 12:50
TR 4:00