<p>Hi,</p>
<p>There is no debate team or Model U.N. at my school and the whole system is foreign to me. I wanted to know about the format of high school debates and what actualy takes place in a debate team. Information on debate tournament procedures, when they take place, and Model United Nations would also be great. </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>My debate experiences are a tad atypical because Alaska is pretty much a wasteland, but the basic structure still complies with NFL standards. The four/five main debate formats are:</p>
<p>Policy (CX): two teams of two debate a year long topic with evidence and a policy focus
Lincoln Douglas (LD): two individuals debate topics that change every two months with a value-based format, policy structure is starting to creep in
Public Forum (PF[D]): two teams of two, I don’t consider this a real form of debate because it is often too scripted and the format is screwed up
Congressional Debate (Congress): a loose array of people who speak whenever they wish (speakers chosen based on precedence), winners chosen based on speaker points (I hear that the students sometimes vote on winners in the lower 48, but we have judges up here)</p>
<p>British Parliamentary (BP): four teams of two debate in a format modeled after the British Parliament (imagine that) with limited prep time. NOT AN NFL EVENT!!!</p>
<p>Local tournaments here have very little significance except bragging rights, so we all have a good time and mingle.</p>