• 2010 December/January Topic

  Resolved: The abuse of illegal drugs ought to be treated as a matter of public health, not of criminal justice.

  2010 October/November Topic

  Resolved: States ought not possess nuclear weapons.

• Lincoln Douglas debate is a style of debate named after the famous verbal duels between U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas and his Republican challenger, Abraham Lincoln. Like the original Lincoln – Douglas debates, L-D adopts a one-on-one rather than a team format of debate. Thus, two individual debaters rather than two teams go head-to-head in L-D debate.

• This debate form emphasizes values and criteria for weighing those values, as well as definitions of both criteria and values. There was little evidence available for Lincoln and Douglas so the primary "evidence" used was historical precedent and common values. LD of today does rely on evidence, but it also attempts to derive value based conclusions from that evidence.

• The resolution changes every two months in LD Debate.

• Times for the L-D Round:
  • Affirmative Constructive (AC) 6 min.,
  • Negative Cross-examination (C-X) 3 min.,
  • Negative Constructive (NC) 7 min.,
  • Affirmative C-X 3 min.,
  • Affirmative 1st Rebuttal (1AR) 4 min.,
  • Negative 1st Rebuttal (NR) 6 min.,
  • Affirmative 2nd Rebuttal (2AR) 3 min.,
  • Total prep time is 4 minutes per person.

• You will generally have four prelim rounds- two affirmative and two negative.

• L-D is usually FLIGHTED. This means there will be two debates in each room (not at the same time!) Be sure to find out what time your flight is.

• Most of the time you will have one judge in the elimination-rounds. You usually won't get a panel (three) of judges until semi-finals. Many times varsity students are used to judge novice rounds.

• In L-D, win/loss records are the first determinant for breaking to quarterfinals. If there are ties, the following are used to break the ties: opposition records, speaker points and opposition speaker points. Check the tournament rules to see in what order those are used.

• Debate is usually the last event. Semis and finals are held AFTER the awards. However,there are exceptions at some tournaments. Each tournament sets its own schedule.

Resources 

Novice LD Work Calendar

Varsity LD Work Calendar

Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Lincoln-Douglas Debate Forum

Watch Lincoln Douglas Debates online. You will need RealPlayer loaded on your computer to watch these videos.

Value Debate Handbook This book is available in the speech room for you to take home and study. See Mr. Kane, if you are interested in borrowing one.