A General Overview of Debating

There are two sides in any debate, the Affirmative (or Government) and the Negative (or Opposition). The Affirmative supports the resolution while the Negative does not. A debate is a clash of issues.

All debates are divided into two portions, the constructive and the rebuttal. The constructive portion is first and is where arguments are constructed and presented. The official rebuttal is last and is where the debate is summarized.

The Affirmative (or Government) always speaks first and last. The Affirmative has the harder job in that it has the burden of proof.

Roles of speakers

1st Affirmative Speech                                                                  1st Negative Speaker
1. Introduction Resolution                                                              1. Introduction
2. Definitions                                                                                     2. If necessary, attacks definitions
3. Needs for Change                                                                       3. Clash with Needs for Change
4. Introduce Plan                                                                              4. Explain why status quo is good



2nd Affirmative Speech                                                                   2nd Negative Speech
1. Introduction                                                                                     1. Introduction
2. Clash with points made by Negative                                         2. Continue attack on Affirmative
and rebuild Affirmative case


Rebuttal

Debaters should:
Explain why their team should win and the other team should lose.
Remind the judges of their arguments. They should tell the judges why the judges should believe their arguments even after the other team's attack.

Policy Debates

In a policy debate, the Affirmative must propose a significant change, the reason(s) for it, and a plan for carrying it out. They must show that their plan is feasible but not necessarily that it is legal or constitutional. They must be prepared to defend attacks on their position from the Negative while clashing with their opponents' arguments.

The Affirmative's plan must be completely outlined during the first Affirmative speech and completely described before the end of the second Affirmative speech. When proposing a counterplan, the Negative must describe the entire counterplan in the first Negative speech.

Value Debates

Unlike policy debate, the teams are not required to produce statistics and evidence. Instead, they make logical arguments for their points. This is not to say they may not use proof, but rather that this is not necessary to win the debate.

The Affirmative does not introduce a plan or needs for change in values debate. The Affirmative team simply argues for the resolution and the negative against it. The Affirmative still carries the burden of proof.