Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder
If The Election Debates Were Like High School Debate
Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2008 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.
Comments
Mollie Marr
03 Oct 2008, 13:56 p.m.
Martin
03 Oct 2008, 18:00 p.m.
If the debate style were "Dramatic Interpretation", candidates would be expected to recite a Monty Python sketch.
If the debate style were Lincoln-Douglas, candidates would be expected to have a working knowledge of past and present political, economic, and social philosophy and a substantial knowledge of the historical context of their particular resolution. They would also have to research a new resolution every two months and would be required to merge philosophical and policy evidence into working arguments. Their depth of knowledge on 6 different topics would be tested and unclear arguments would be verbally tackled by their opponents during cross-examination. In addition to winning or losing the debate, speaker points are awarded to the debaters based on their eloquence, poise, delivery, and knowledge.