Rules of Parliamentary Debate - 4/28/21

 April 28th, 2021 - Public Speaking Period 9

Kevin Wu

Rules of Parliamentary Debate

Notes:

Rules for Parliamentary Debate

Overview

• There are two teams in a parliamentary debate:

• The government team supports the statement made in the resolve, and always speaks first.

• The main pro speaker is called the prime minister.

• The prime minister gives the opening speech for their team.

• The subsequent speakers are called members of the government.

• If there is more than one subsequent speaker, the subsequent speakers are called the first member of government and the second member of government.

• The opposition disagrees with the statement made in the resolve.

• The main speaker for the opposition is called the leader of the opposition.

• The leader of the opposition gives the opening speech for their team.

• Subsequent speakers in the opposition are called members of the opposition.

• The main speakers for both teams give the opening and closing speeches when there are two speakers in the team. If there are three speakers, the third speaker will give the closing speech.

• There is always a speaker as the judge or arbiter.

• The debate should be won based only on the information provided during the debate, not based on whether or not the speaker has changed your opinion.

Order and Timing

• The normal amount of time allotted per speaker is shown on the left of the table, but for the purpose of time during our Public Speaking class, the times highlighted on the right will be used.

Expectation of Speakers

• Pro speakers present the affirmative case.

• Con speakers refute that case and include points against the affirmative argument.

• Subsequent pro speakers break down new arguments presented by the opposition before continuing to build their argument with new facts and points.

• Subsequent con speakers refute new arguments presented by the subsequent pro before reinforcing their previous argument and adding new arguments to support their case.

• The main con speaker then summarizes the argument against the affirmative arguments.

• In the closing speech, the speaker can ONLY use arguments that have already been presented.

• Main pro speaker then rebuilds their case, going over all the crucial points for and against the argument to back up what they are saying.

• The speaker may not introduce new arguments that have not been presented.

• If new evidence is presented in closing, the evidence will not be considered and the team who presented the information will be charged with a point of order.

Time Keeper Audio and Hand Signals

• A bell will ring to signal time remaining.

• One ring announces that there is 1 minute remaining.

• Two rings signal that there is no time remaining.

• Continuous ringing signals that the speaker has gone 30 seconds past the time allotted and will not stop until the speaker stops speaking.

• 10 seconds before time is up, the judge and timekeeper will count down using their hands.

• There can be a motion to expand the speaker’s time, but the opposing team must second the motion as the time for the opposing team must also be extended equally.

New Arguments

• Points that are brought up are considered new arguments.

• New arguments can be made during the opening and subsequent speeches, but never during the closing speeches.

• Speakers can respond to previous arguments during closing but cannot add new information or arguments, and can only use information already presented.

Points of Information

• In American parliamentary debate, the debater who wishes to ask a point of information question may rise from their seat or signal they have a point and say “point of information” or stand quietly until acknowledged.

• The debater currently speaking can respond “no thank you” or stop right there and say “on that point” and allow the debater to ask their question.

• If time remains at the end of the speech and the debater wishes to answer questions, they can say “I yield my time to questions” to take questions using their remaining time.

• Questions on both teams will be answered before questions from the audience.

Point of Clarification

• If a debater does not understand what the opposing debater is saying, they can raise their hand and say “point of clarification” before asking the opposing debater to explain.

• The opposing debater will briefly clarify to clear up confusion.

• Do not use this to delay time or disguise arguments as questions.

Point of Order

• Points of order are issued when the rules of debate are broken.

• A debater can raise a point of order if the opposing debater has exceeded the 30 sec grace period or brought in a new argument during closing.

• If the audiences notice the point of order, just note it, but do not call it.

• When a point of order is called, time is stopped and the speaker stops speaking.

• The debater who called the point of order will state what they believe the point of violation was without bringing up arguments.

• The judge will say point well taken, not well taken, or under consideration and discussed after the closing speeches.

Points of Personal Privilege

• Points of personal privilege are rarely used, only called by the debater when they were personally attacked in an argument or in an emergency during a debate.

• Time will be stopped and the judge asks what the issue is and will rule point well taken or point not well taken.

Cases and Resolutions

• The prime minister verbally repeats the resolve at the beginning of the debate and connects it to the idea of what the team will discuss.

• Cases must link appropriately to the resolution.

• Cases must be debatable.

• Cases must not be tight cases or tautological cases.

Tight Cases and Tautology

• Tight cases are cases where the opposition feels that they can’t win because the case does not allow for arguments which could beat the case.

• Tautology: there can be no argument because it is an absolute fact.

Specific Knowledge Cases

• Cases where a typical audience would not be able to argue, and only a person who specializes in the field would have the knowledge to understand the argument.

Time and Space Cases

• Time and space cases are cases which argue for cases which happened in the past.

• For example: putting an empire from the past on trial.

• Time and space cases follow the normal rules of debate but cannot use events that had not happened at that time as evidence in the debate.

• The only exception to this rule is when referring to the future to prove facts that have occurred in the time of the case.

Things to Consider

• Consider the time period of initial arguments when creating a debate.

• When watching the debate, keep in mind if the team changed your mind based only on the information they presented.

• How well did speakers answer questions?

• Were the questions friendly or unfriendly?

• Were the answers sufficient to answer the question?

• Are the speakers experts in the field?

• Do the speakers seem like reliable sources?

• If so, how?

Reflection:

In today's lesson, we covered the rules of parliamentary debate that need to be followed as well as some of the terminology which debaters may use during debate. The lesson contained information which could be used to prepare for debates and what debaters and audience members should do during a debate, which will be used by the class when we practice and participate in debates during class in the next month.