PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE

AN INTRODUCTION

Nadya Ayu
2017
SECTION 1

PARLIAMENTARY DEBATING
 What is debating?
“Structured argumentation and clash of opposing ideas.”
• Develop critical thinking and logical reasoning
• Develop listening skill, understanding of others ideas, and open mindedness
• Represent voiceless people in society
 What is Competitive
Parliamentary Debating?
“Simulation of Parliamentary Debates”
• You are assigned a topic (motion)
• You are assigned a side
• Identify problem
• Propose/oppose solution
• Convince everyone why it’s right

Teams seek to win by showing strength of logic, relevance, and in-depth analysis
of arguments, and not merely by stating examples, facts, and evidences
SECTION 2

DEBATE MOTION
1. Motion is a topic that will be debated by the teams
2. Motion is a full propositional statement that states what the debate is/shall be about
3. Usually proposes a policy, against the status quo, or affirming the virtue (goodness) of a
state or condition.
 Characterized by words such as THW... (This House
PROPOSAL Would...), THBT we should... (This House Believe That we
should...), etc.

Judging whether something is in accordance to certain

JUDGEMENT value, or comparing it to something else.
ex: THBT the world would be better off eithout OPEC.
 You can prepare you case before the competition,
PREPARED the committee will release it before the competition

A sudden motion, that will be revealed at the day of

IMPROMPTU competition, right before the round starts
What should Government team must
the team do defend or propose the
motion, and Opposition
with the team must negate or
motion? oppose the motion
1. Understand what it is talk about

• Actors
• Problems
• Interests
• Case study and examples
• Etc.
2. Who debates it? Define “This House ”

Most of the time, it’s government, but it could be other entities as well, i.e. Board of Directors
of a company, Animal rights activist, certain communities, etc.

Remember!!!
It’s not always about Indonesia!
3. Define the keyword of the motion

Keep the focus of the debate.

4. Identify the problem or controversy in the motion

Important to determine the approach, stance, and the solvency.

5. Remember context and spirit of the motion

Two crucial things to be remembered. It determines the significancy of your arguments and
your case.
SECTION 3

DEBATE STRATEGY
 1. When debating upon motions such as “THBT
actor X should do Y”, bear in mind that you are
not X; you are an external observer who would
give an analysis on what actor X should ideally
do in accordance to its’ responsibilities/role/
interests

Positioning 2. However, in motions “As actor X, THW do Y”,

you are debating on behalf of X and their
interest. You seek to maximize the benefits and
The Debate minimize the harms relevant to that actor.

3. In motions without explicit actors, (THBT social

media bring more harms than Good or TH
regrets the glamorization of weddings), you are
an external observer, you would give analysis
on what is generally is good for society, with
stakeholder analysis being of high importance
SECTION 4

FIAT
 The assumption that the proposition has
the ability to feasibly implement the
motion that is presented. Nullifies
challenges that argue that in real life this
motion would never pass in the
PROPOSITION parliament or certain actors would never

F I AT even consider the motion. Therefore it is

NOT a valid opposition line to argue that
a parliament will not pass the policy. A
government team however CANNOT
stipulate the way that other actors will
react.
 Ex: TH, as UN will invade Syria
Opposition cannot argue that Russia will
veto the motion, or else there will be no
PROPOSITION debate.

F I AT But opposition can argue that Russia will

not assist Syria or protect it (the reaction)

Government cannot argue that the

outcome will automatically be good
 The assumption that the opposition has
access to the IDENTICAL resources
provided to proposition in order to
implement a counter-proposal.
OPPOSITION Opposition must explain what resources
F I AT that exist under proposition’s motion and
explain how it would be used differently.
Example in the motion “... significantly
invest ...” the assumption (fiat) is the
same amount of money.
SECTION 5

BURDEN OF PROOF (BOP)

 BOP
Burden of Proof (BoP) are essential question that arise from the motion that both
teAMs are required to answer, in order to have sufficiently establish their case
 Example: • Why are college entrance exams
THW ban college harmful?
• Why is banning college entrance
entrance exams exams the best approach?
- for example: • What are the impacts of banning
A C T, S AT college entrance exams ?
 Different motions have
different BoP, but generally
identifying BoP is possible
through analyzing the
NOTE! stakeholders, the actions
being taken, the necessity
and justification, and the
impacts of the motion.
SECTION 6

IMPORTANT NOTES
 Debate is BEING EXPLICIT AND CLEAR
 DO NOT throw jargons without explanations!
Otherwise it will not be counted by
adjudicators.
 Adjudicators cannot read your mind! They
judge based on what you say EXPLICITLY.
THANK YOU!
Do You Have Any Questions?