It’s that time of year again. The Lincoln-Douglas debate resolutions have been released and the family affiliates have been asked to vote. But how are we to decide? This question seems to come up every year, so here are a few metrics that we like to think about when considering the debate resolutions:
1) Is it well BALANCED (or is it BIASED)? – Is there a potential bias in our judge pool (primarily home school parents and conservative community judges) against one side of the resolution? Or is the resolution balanced without a clear bias toward one side or the other? Resolutions that tilt heavily toward aff or neg are difficult to debate, as oftentimes the side you are assigned in a round will determine whether or not you win the round. Bias is particularly difficult when you get to out-rounds, as the debater may be fighting an uphill battle just because he/she was assigned to argue a certain side in the round. It can be discouraging to work so hard and then to lose because you are arguing the “wrong” side. We have seen it happen over the years, and we like to avoid these scenarios by choosing balanced resolutions.
2) Is it CLEAR? – Are the terms in the resolution clear? Are they terms that are understandable to the average person? Or will it take much of the debate just to clarify and define what the debate is actually about? If you need to spend a lot of time defining and explaining to the judge what you are even talking about, the resolution is weak. If most people haven’t heard of the terms or only have a vague idea of what the terms are/mean, you can bet that the resolution is probably not very relevant.
3) Is the topic ACCESSIBLE? – Remember, students begin debate at age 12 in our league. If a resolution is very technical or too philosophical (Rationalism v. Empiricism, for example) it makes it difficult for new/younger students to access the resolution. Lincoln- Douglas debate is already a challenging form of debate, an inaccessible resolution makes it even more difficult. It also makes it extremely difficult for the average person to judge the debate, as many debaters are not able to understand and articulate the ideas to the judge. Again, this makes for rather capricious judging, as judges are often confused and end up determining the winner based on something other than the ideas presented in the round.
4) Is the subject matter PROFITABLE? – Another important dimension to consider is the value of the subject matter itself. Given that we spend the better part of a year learning about a specific topic, it’s important that the topic be meaningful, relevant and appropriate as an area of study for the student population. Subjects like economics, the role of government, the democratic process, etc. can provide opportunities for students to think deeply about highly impactful and timely topics whereas other subjects (like illicit drugs, crime, human trafficking, etc.) might encourage students to explore more questionable subjects that might not be edifying, particularly for many of our younger students. Remember that when choosing a resolution, we will be “thinking on these things” for many, many months, so we should pick a subject matter that’s worthy of the focus and discussion that we as a community will devote to it.
Happy Voting!
Louis and Hillary Kolssak have been club leaders of EverReady Speech in Chicagoland Area, one of the largest speech and debate clubs in Illinois for over a decade. Three of their boys competed at a National level, making it into finals. They also run one of the largest speech and debate camps every summer – Best of The MidWest. Hillary has been a part of the Lasting Impact! Team for a number of years, she also runs an Online LD Club. The couple have been a part of the speech and debate community for over a very, very long time. Louis, himself competed in policy debate in high school. Contact Lasting Impact! to schedule a coaching call with Hillary today! Hillary enjoys coaching speech and LD.