Intro to Public Forum Debate

What is Public Forum Debate? Partner debate Purpose- for the “common man” Much easier to understand, and thus to judge, than especially Policy but even Lincoln Douglas Debate (created because the other debates were so complicated) Topic changes each month Accessible to anyone

Types of Public Forum Topics Public Forum, or “PF” (pronounced puff), topics are all current, popular, and much debated issues Ex. NSA, immigration reform, climate change, foreign policy in the Middle East, the rise of China, health insurance, and the Supreme Court Resolutions are released at the first of the month prior to the month the topic will be debated

Types of Resolutions Three “types” or categories of resolutions that Public Forum debates fall under Course-of-action debates Cost-benefit analysis debates Comparison debates Most resolutions will fall under these three categories

Course-of-action debates Debates that revolve around debating the merits of a course of action Characterized by “should” in the resolution Verbs following should may include: Suspend Require Abolish May also include a “moral obligation” to take a course of action or to do something

Course-of-action debates, cont. “Should” debates will have the following categories of arguments: Moral (is it moral ?) Feasibility (is it possible ?) Practicality (is it reasonable ?) The action will usually not have already taken place (will be in the future) There are also should not debates In this case, the PRO side will affirm that the course of action should not be taken and the CON will advocate that it should be taken

Course-of-action examples December 2013 – Resolved: Immigration reform should include a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrations living in the United States. March 2013 – Resolved: The United States government should not require its citizens to have health insurance. February 2012 – Resolved: Birthright citizenship should be abolished in the United States.

Cost-benefit Analysis Debates Debates that require you to evaluate and debate the costs and the benefits of an specific idea, institution, or decision Words that characterize these debates Undermines Threatens Harms Outweighs Benefits Not all of these debates will explicitly say in the resolution costs or benefits!!

Cost-benefit Analysis Debates, cont. These resolutions may be broad or specific Could require the debate to focus on a specific harm or benefit or cost Occasionally use the phrase “on balance” to equalize the debate (if you see this it’s a cost-benefit analysis debate!) Also may ask to uphold or justify a previous decision or evaluate the implications of the decision

Examples of Cost-Benefit Analysis Debates Broad November 2013 – Resolved: The benefits of domestic surveillance by the NSA outweigh the harms. January Resolved: The costs of a college education outweigh the benefits. Specific

Comparison Debates Resolutions that direct a comparison between two options in the round May have two different solutions/options to fix a problem Words to look for: Prioritize Is preferable Should replace Have to research both options thoroughly! The debate will be a clash between BOTH the costs and the benefits for BOTH options

Comparison Resolutions, cont. December 2012 – Resolved: The United States should prioritize tax increases over spending cuts. November 2011 – Resolved: Direct popular vote should replace electoral vote in presidential elections. October 2011 – Resolved: Private sector investment in human space exploration is preferable to public sector investment.

What type of debate is this? Resolved: The United States should suspend all assistance to Pakistan. Resolved: In the United States, current income disparities threaten democratic ideals. Resolved: Developed countries have a moral obligation to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Why was this exercise important? It’s important to know what type of debate you will be participating in, in order to know the types of arguments The type sets up the “framework” of the debate Framework is what shapes the round The resolution is the initially framework in a debate, because it gives you what to talk about The value in LD and an observation in Public Forum further clarify framework in a round

Observations A type of framework Useful to make the resolution more balanced to your side (some resolutions inherently favor one side over the other) Used for clarification of what you want the round to look like or what should be talked about Should be limited in use but are crucial to understand so if another team as an unfair observation, you are prepared to adequately attack it Like a value in LD, gives the judge a criteria to judge upon

Examples Resolved: The U.S. government should not require its citizens to have health insurance. Observation one: the Affordable Care Act is only an example of a law that includes a mandate to purchase health insurance, meaning the debate should not be limited only to this act. Resolved: the United States should suspend all assistance to Pakistan. Observation one: in order for the PRO side to win today’s debate, they must prove that every form of assistance should be suspended. If any form of assistance stands at the end of the round the CON side wins today’s debate

Public Forum Cases Like in LD, Public Forum Debates begin with each side reading their cases. This time, each case is 4 minutes long. Cases will include The resolution Definitions Any observations 2 or more contentions Before we clarify how to write a case, let’s brainstorm what should be included in this month’s cases.

January 2016 – Resolved: On balance, economic sanctions are reducing the threat Russia poses to Western interests. What TYPE of debate will this be?

Right, a cost-benefit debate! Now, brainstorm… Definitions…think, what should we define? And what definitions should we use if we are PRO and CON? Will each case require different definitions? Any observations? What will this debate look like? January 2016 – Resolved: On balance, economic sanctions are reducing the threat Russia poses to Western interests.

Topic Analysis Split into two groups Each group should come up with 5 arguments for the PRO Side and 5 for the CON Side… May need to quickly look things up! (cite possible evidence) Think of the categories used in “on balance” debates (Undermines, Threatens, Harms, Outweighs, Benefits) Think of the effects of sanctions on Russia and Western interests…be ready to share! January 2016 – Resolved: On balance, economic sanctions are reducing the threat Russia poses to Western interests.