Philo@PA: The Philomathean Society
A friendly guide to parliamentary extemporaneous debate at Phillips Academy.
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Collegiate Parliamentary Debate Rounds
Anyone can take a look at these, as they’re honestly really fun to watch. However, some of the points they bring up and some of the takeaways are best appreciated at the higher levels of debate. Advanced candidates / debaters will definitely take more out of these than novices.
These videos are best for a few things, and pretty terrible in terms of others.
Good things:
- They offer clear insight into solid point construction, how to clash around a specific aspect of framing / a specific point (e.g. principled vs. pragmatic on how to frame / weigh debate).
- They provide examples of how to introduce originally (skipping formalities like the classic Mr. Speaker, Honorable Opponents, etc.) and with style, while still setting up useful framing for the debate
- They provide you with examples of excellent speakers in terms of rhetoric, as everyone in this league is skilled enough to speak off the top of their head without stumbling over every other word.
- They talk fast enough to practice flowing quickly.
- They take POIs at proper times (after rebuttal, not in the middle of a thought or sentence) and dismiss those that they think would hurt their speech / case
Bad things:
- They do NOT provide good examples of extensive / exhaustive rebuttal, as many times they try to dispel the opponents’ arguments on the highest level (in a clear clash of main points / cruxes)– which is something that can be useful in your rounds, but takes a considerable amount of skill and many judges may take points for you not clearly disproving their points in turn.
- They do NOT provide examples of PM’s final speech, and do NOT provide good examples of speech structure for the other members either, as their league uses a different format. There are opening / closing teams for both side, and so I would suggest just watching the opening half.
A site with a number of different debate rounds hosted on it, feature to filter for Parli:
The Rounds
Note: These are debate rounds, mostly from the WUDC. Below each link is the motion for the debate. “OG” stands for “Opening Government,” “OO” stands for “Opening Opposition,” “CG” stands for “Closing Government,” and “CO” stands for “Closing Opposition.”
- Motion: TH supports the use of forced population transfers that create separate, ethnically homogenous states as a solution to prolonged ethnic conflict.
- OG: Colgate LC
- OO: Hart House MG
- CG: Brandeis/Penn
- CO: Harvard SM
- Motion: This house believes that prominent civil society activists should choose not to run for elected office.
- OG: Cambridge (Dunn-Goekjian / Kumar)
- OO: Harvard (Mashwama / Seo)
- CG: Hart House (Flynn / Sundarsingh)
- CO: Hart House (Goswami / McGrade)
https://youtu.be/ED7pA0r7bYs (Sound is a little rough)
- Motion: THBT all states should create special economic zones in cities, where all economic activities (except the purchase of goods and services) are carried out by women.
- OG: Harvard A
- OO: Sydney A
- CG: Melbourne A
- CO: Belgrade A
- Motion: THW as the U.S. government grant amnesty to all undocumented immigrants living in the united states on the sole condition that they have not been convicted of a violent criminal offense.
- Motion: THW facilitate religious proselytization in areas of high socio-economic deprivation.
- Motion: THBT all states should create special economic zones in cities, where all economic activities (except the purchase of goods and services) are carried out by women.
- Motion: This house believes that humanitarian organisations should and should be allowed to give funding, resources or services ti illegal armed groups when this is made a condition for access to vulnerable civilians.
- Motion: This house believes that humanitarian organisations should and should be allowed to give funding, resources or services ti illegal armed groups when this is made a condition for access to vulnerable civilians.
- Motion : This house believes that the creation of feminist icons and their cults of personality are good for the feminist movement
- Motion: TH supports the establishment of a black secessionary state within the territory of the US, the founding of which is supported by the American government.
- Motion: THBT non-western countries who were once colonized, when fabricating the material culture of national identity (anthems, street names, holidays, flag, etc.) should privilege pre colonial history and notions of indigeneity over themes of anti colonial resistance.
https://youtu.be/UAqFpbQ-dNY (WUDC 2017 Finals)
- Motion: THBT non-western countries who were once colonized, when fabricating the material culture of national identity (anthems, street names, holidays, flag, etc.) should privilege pre colonial history and notions of indigeneity over themes of anti colonial resistance.
- OG – Hart House A
- OO – Sydney Union A
- CG – Harvard A
- CO – London Union B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjdiIJNN204 (Yale Tournament)
- Motion: Pardon treason by referendum
Simpler, More Novice Debate Rounds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuYt9LLaaX8 (High School Debate round)
- Motion: USFG should repeal the 2nd Amendment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_rYlWd9qbM
- This is what a debate round at a novice high school level looks like (don’t necessarily copy everything in this round)