1、The British Parliamentary Debate FormatRobert Trapp,Willamette UniversityYang Ge,Dalian Nationalities UniversityA debate format consists of a description of the teams in the debate and the order and timesfor the speeches that make up that debate.The British Parliamentary debate format1differsfrom ma
2、ny other formats because it involves four teams rather than two.Two teams,calledthe“First Proposition”and the“Second Proposition”teams,are charged with theresponsibility of supporting the proposition while two other teams,“First Opposition”and“Second Opposition,”are charged with opposing it.Two spea
3、kers represent each of the four teams and each speaker gives a speech of sevenminutes.The following chart describes the basic format and time limits.As you will seefrom the chart,each speaker is given a unique title.British Parliamentary Debate FormatSpeakerTimePrime Minister1stspeaker for 1stpropos
4、ition:7 minutesLeader of Opposition1stspeaker for 1stopposition:7 minutesDeputy Prime Minister2ndspeaker for 1stproposition:7 minutesDeputy Leader of Opposition2ndspeaker for 1stopposition:7 minutesMember of Government1stspeaker for 2ndproposition:7 minutesMember of Opposition1stspeaker for 2ndoppos
5、ition:7 minutesGovernment Whip2ndspeaker for 2ndproposition:7 minutesOpposition Whip2ndspeaker for 2ndopposition:7 minutes1British Parliamentary debate sometimes is referred to as Worlds-style debate or simplyfour-team debate.British Parliamentary Debate FormatPage 2 of 9As can be seen from the tabl
6、e above,the first four speeches are delivered by the FirstProposition and the First Opposition teams then the last four speeches are delivered by theSecond Proposition and Second Opposition teams.Therefore,the First Proposition and FirstOpposition teams generally are responsible for the first half o
7、f the debate and the SecondProposition and Second Opposition teams have the responsibility for the second half.The table above describes all of the formal speeches but it does not describe one of the mostimportant and dynamic parts of the debate:points of information.Points of informationprovide opp
8、ortunities for members of each team to interact with members of the teamsdefending the opposite side of the motion2.Points of information can be requested after the first minute of a speech and prior to the lastminute of the speech.The first and last minute of each speech is“protected”againstinterru
9、ption.The point of information can last no more than fifteen seconds and may take theform of a question,a statement,or an argument.Only a debater defending the opposite side of the proposition as the speaker can request apoint of information.In other words,the debaters for the proposition can reques
10、t points ofinformation of members of the opposition teams and vice versa.To request a point ofinformation,a debater rises and politely says something like“point of information please,”or“on that point.”The debater giving the speech has the authority to accept or to refuse the request for a pointof i
11、nformation.In general,debaters should accept a minimum of two points during theirspeech so that the judges and the audience will know they are able to answer points quicklyand directly.Accepting more than one or two points is not advisable because to do so mayhave the effect of disrupting the speech
12、.To refuse a point of information,the debater maysay something like“No thank you”or“not at this time,”or may simply use a hand gesture toindicate the person should take return to their seat.If the request for a point of information is accepted,the person who has requested the pointhas a maximum of f
13、ifteen seconds to make the point.As stated earlier,the point can be aquestion,a statement,or an argument.Sometimes points of information are made to force anopponent to clarify a position but more commonly,they are made to attempt to undermine anargument being made by the speaker.After accepting a p
14、oint of information,the speaker should answer the question directly.Theperson offering the point of information is not allowed to follow-up with additional questions.Points of information are among the most important and most interesting parts of BritishParliamentary debate because they introduce an
15、 element of spontaneity to the debate and giveeach debater the chance to demonstrate critical thinking skills.Although points of information are a common occurrence in every speech in the debate,eachspeech contains elements that are unique to that speech.The following table explains the2The topic fo
16、r the debate is called the motion,proposition,resolution,or sometimes just thedebate topic.All of these words are used interchangeably.Chapter OnePage 3 of 9basic responsibilities of each speaker in British Parliamentary debate.Following the table isa fuller explanation of the responsibilities of ea
17、ch speech.Speaker Responsibilities for British Parliamentary DebateSpeakerSpeaker ResponsibilitiesPrime Minister1stspeaker for 1stproposition:Defines and interprets the motionDevelops the case for the propositionLeader of Opposition1stspeaker for 1stopposition:Accepts the definition of the motionRef
18、utes the case of the 1stpropositionConstructs one or more arguments against the PrimeMinisters interpretation of the motion.Deputy Prime Minister2ndspeaker for 1stproposition:Refutes the case of the 1stoppositionRebuilds the case of the 1stpropositionMay add new arguments to the case of the 1stpropo
19、sitionDeputy Leader of Opposition2ndspeaker for 1stopposition:Continues refutation of case of 1stpropositionRebuilds arguments of the 1stoppositionMay add new arguments to the case of the 1stoppositionMember of Government1stspeaker for 2ndproposition:Defends the general direction and case of the 1st
20、propositionContinues refutation of 1stopposition teamDevelops a new argument that is different from butconsistent with the case of the 1stproposition(sometimescalled an extension).Member of Opposition1stspeaker for 2ndopposition:Defends the general direction taken by the 1stopposition.Continues gene
21、ral refutation of 1stproposition caseProvides more specific refutation of 2ndoppositionProvides new opposition argumentsGovernment Whip2ndspeaker for 2ndproposition:Summarizes the entire debate from the point of view ofthe proposition,defending the general view point of bothproposition teams with a
22、special eye toward the case ofthe 2ndpropositionDoes not provide new arguments.Opposition Whip2ndspeaker for 2ndopposition:Summarizes the entire debate from the point of view ofthe opposition,defending the general view point of bothopposition teams with a special eye toward the case ofthe 2ndopposit
23、ionDoes not provide new arguments.British Parliamentary Debate FormatPage 4 of 9The following sections briefly describe the speeches given by each of the eight speakerslisted in the previous table.These are very brief descriptions that will be expanded in laterchapters.Prime MinisterThe debate begin
24、s with a seven-minute speech by the Prime Minister.The Prime Ministerhas two basic responsibilities:to define and interpret the motion and to develop the case forthe proposition.The first of these responsibilities is to define and interpret the motion fordebate.The definition and interpretation is p
25、articularly important because it sets the stage forthe entire debate.Remember,the Prime Minster has the right to define the motion and theresponsibility to do so in a reasonable fashion.Therefore,if the Prime Ministersinterpretation is a poor one,the likely result will be a poor debate.In order to p
26、roperly define and interpret the proposition,the Prime Minster should do thefollowing:1)Define any ambiguous terms in the proposition.2)Show how these definitions are reasonable ones.3)Outline a model that will be used by all teams in advancing the debate.More will be said about these three points i
27、n Chapter 5 on constructing a case for theproposition.The second responsibility of the Prime Minister is to construct a case for the proposition.Simply stated,a“case”consists of one or more arguments supporting the Prime Ministersinterpretation of the motion.Therefore,the Prime Minister will outline
28、 the argumentssupporting the interpretation and begin to develop each of those arguments.The PrimeMinister need not present all of the arguments for the First Proposition team.In many cases,the Prime Minister will state that the First Proposition team will have a certain number ofarguments and that
29、some will be presented in this speech and the Deputy Prime Minister willpresent the rest.Leader of the OppositionThe Leader of the Opposition has three primary responsibilities:to accept the definition andinterpretation of the proposition,to refute part or all of the Prime Ministers case,and toprese
30、nt one or more arguments in opposition to the Prime Ministers interpretation of themotion.First,in most ordinary situations,the Leader of the Opposition should explicitly accept thedefinition and interpretation of the motion as presented by the Prime Minister.Inextraordinary cases,when the definitio
31、n is completely unreasonable as to precludemeaningful debate,the Leader of the Opposition has the right to reject the definition.Theproblem with rejecting the definition is that such an action will ultimately lead to a very baddebate and the First Opposition team likely will get the blame.Therefore,
32、even in the eventof an unreasonable definition,the Leader of the Opposition should point out to the judge andChapter OnePage 5 of 9the audience that the definition and interpretation presented by the Prime Minister isunreasonable and then should go ahead and accept the definition for the purposes of
33、 thecurrent debate.Second,the Leader of the Opposition should refute part or all of the Prime Ministersarguments for the motion.Because of the limits of time,the Leader of Opposition cannotreasonably expect to refute all of the Prime Ministers arguments.The proper goal is toselect and refute the mos
34、t important arguments presented by the Prime Minister.Finally,the Leader of the Opposition should present one,two,or three arguments directedagainst the Prime Ministers interpretation of the motion.These arguments are different fromthose arguments offered in refutation.They should consist of the mos
35、t persuasive reasonsthat the Leader of the Opposition can present to convince the audience to reject theproposition.Deputy Prime MinisterThe Deputy Prime Minister has three primary obligations:to defend the case presented by thePrime Minister,to refute any independent arguments presented by the Lead
36、er of theOpposition,and to add one or more arguments to the case presented by the Prime Minister.First,the Deputy Prime Minister defends the case presented by the Prime Minister byengaging any refutation presented against the case by the Leader of the Opposition.This taskneeds to be accomplished in
37、a very systematic fashion.The Deputy should take up the PrimeMinisters argument one by one and defend each argument against any refutation by theLeader of the Opposition.Thus,at the end of this section of the Deputys speech,theaudience should see that the case originally presented by the Prime Minis
38、ter still stands asstrongly as it did when initially presented.Second,the Deputy Prime Minister should refute any of the independent argument presentedby the Leader of the Opposition.Like the Leader of Opposition,the Deputy should not try torefute all arguments,just the most important ones.Finally,t
39、he Deputy Prime Minster should add one or two arguments to the case presented bythe Prime Minister.The reasons for adding new arguments in this speech are two-fold:First,the Prime Minister may not have had adequate time to develop all of the arguments that theFirst Proposition team wishes to present
40、 and second,presenting these additional argumentsgives the judges and audience a way to judge the ability of the Deputy Prime Minister withrespect to the ability to construct arguments.Deputy Leader of the OppositionThe duties of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition are similar to those of the Deputy
41、 PrimeMinister.The Deputy Leader should 1)defend the refutation offered by the Leader ofBritish Parliamentary Debate FormatPage 6 of 9Opposition,2)defend the arguments offered by the Leader of the Opposition,and 3)add oneor more new arguments to those being offered by the First Proposition team.Firs
42、t,the Deputy Leader should defend the refutation offered by the Leader of the Opposition.The Deputy Prime Minister will have engaged the refutation presented by the Leader ofOpposition.At this time,the Deputy Leader needs to show that the original refutation is stillsound.Second,the Deputy Leader sh
43、ould defend the arguments presented by the Leader of theOpposition.The task of the Deputy Leader is to make sure that these arguments still standfirm in the mind of the judges and audience.To do so,the Deputy leader needs to considereach argument one by one,engage any refutation offered by the Deput
44、y Prime Minister,andtherefore rebuild each argument.Third,the Deputy Leader should present one or more arguments against the proposition.These arguments can be similar to those arguments raised by the Leader of the Opposition,yet they should be new ones to give the judges and audience the ability to
45、 judge the DeputyLeaders argument construction skills.Member of GovernmentThe Member of Government initiates the second half of the debate.The Member ofGovernment needs to defend the general direction taken by the First Proposition team butneeds to offer a new perspective from the Second Proposition
46、 team.In other words,theMember of Government needs to defend the thesis of the First Proposition team while doingso for different reasons.The obligations of the Member of Government can be summarizedas follows:1)Defend the general perspective of the First Proposition team,2)Continuerefuting argument
47、s made by the First Opposition team,3)Develop one or more newarguments that are different from but consistent with the case offered by the First Propositionteam.The first responsibility of the Member of the Government is to defend the general directionof the debate as started by the First Propositio
48、n team.In so doing,the Member ofGovernment demonstrates a sense of loyalty to the other debaters defending the proposition.This part of the Members speech is important but need not be time consuming.One or twominutes devoted to this aspect of the speech will probably be sufficient.Second,the Member
49、of Government should continue refuting arguments made by the FirstOpposition team.The Member of Government should not use the same refutation as providedby debaters of the First Proposition team,but should introduce new points of refutationunique to the Second Government team.To the extent possible,
50、the refutation should focuson the arguments presented by the Deputy Leader of the Proposition.Finally,the Member of Government should develop one or more arguments that are differentfrom but consistent with the arguments offered by the Prime Minister.These new argumentssometimes are referred to as a
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