Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Overview

Lincoln-Douglas Debate involves the philosophical analysis and debate of a resolution that has no definite answer. Two debaters, an affirmative (for the resolution) and negative (against the resolution) face each other in each round. There are generally three levels of competition: Novice, Junior-Varsity, and Varsity. Some tournaments offer all three, while some tournaments (including districts and sections) are Varsity only.

Mechanics

In a Lincoln-Douglas debate the total time is divided equally between the speakers, but unevenly between the speeches in order to compensate for one side having first and last word. A typical NFL rules LD round follows the following time schedule:

Affirmative Constructive Speech	6 minutes
Cross-Examination of Affirmative by Negative	3 minutes
Negative Constructive Speech	7 minutes
Cross-Examination of Negative by Affirmative	3 minutes
First Affirmative Rebuttal	4 minutes
Negative Rebuttal	6 minutes
Second Affirmative Rebuttal	3 minutes

Judging an LD round can be very difficult, especially for inexperienced judges. Not only are the questions intrinsically complex, but the typical debater uses argumentation and citation from writers of philosophy that the judge may not be familiar with. Additionally, LD topics frequently involve issues where the judge has a strongly held opinion for or against the resolution. Being neutral and judging on the basis of the quality of the debater and not the nature of the argument can be difficult. Inexperienced judges, however, are most commonly found in the Novice division, while Junior-Varsity and Varsity enjoy much more experienced judges, most likely coaches of other teams. Some districts value the difficulty of debating in front of inexperienced judges, and recruit inexperienced judges in order to provide the debaters with the experiance of attempting to explain complex issues to lay people. Other circuits require all LD judges to meet training requirements.

In a typical one-day tournament, each debater will debate four rounds, two rounds advocating the affirmative side, and two rounds advocating the negative. Longer tournaments typically have five preliminary rounds, in which all debaters participate. The top debaters from the first five rounds then advance to a single-elimination tournament to determine the winner of the tournament.

As with Policy Debate, the winner of a debate round earns 6 NFL points, and the loser of the round earns 3 NFL points. Given that Lincoln-Douglas rounds are shorter than Policy rounds (meaning that some tournaments hold more rounds of L-D than of Policy), Lincoln-Douglas is the fastest way to earn NFL points.

Resolutions

Resolutions (topics to be debated) change every two months. Past resolutions include

Resolved: A businesses's responsibility to itself ought to be valued above its responsibility to society. (November-December 1996)

Resolved: The principle of universal human rights ought to be valued above conflicting national interest. (January-February 1997)

Resolved: An adolescent's right to privacy ought to be valued above a parent's conflicting right to know. (November-December 1997)

Resolved: In a just social order, the principle of equality ought to be valued above that of liberty. (January-February 1998)

Resolved: Civil disobedience is justified in a democracy. (March-April 1998)

History

The Lincoln-Douglas Debate format is named for the Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858.

Referenced By