Policy Debate
In policy debate, a pair of two-person teams debate each other on the current yearly National Forensic League topic. The topic for the 2003-04 school year is Resolved: That the United States Federal government should establish an ocean policy to substantially increase protection of marine natural resources. Students debate areas of this topic that are quite varied; everything from fishery management to oil drilling is discussed. Each debate round lasts for approximately 90 minutes, during which time each of the four students gives two speeches an eight minute constructive speech and a five-minute rebuttal speech. After each of the constructive speeches, the opposing students have an opportunity to question the speaker. This question and answer period is known as cross-examination. Debate rounds are generally adjudicated by an adult judge. During the debate round student read quotes to support their arguments.

The two sides in the debate are called the Affirmative and the Negative. The Affirmative team upholds the statement known as the resolution by advocating a specific policy case example, while the Negative team attempts to disprove the value of the Affirmative case and the topic resolution. Affirmative cases (examples of policies that fall under the yearly topic area) are generally composed of four main areas:

Significant Harms: A statement of a problem that exists currently.

Inherency: A statement of who and why the problem is not being addressed currently and why the Significant Harms will continue into the future.

Affirmative Plan: A statement of what policy the Affirmative team advocates to address the current problem; is other words, what action the Affirmative teams proposes to take.

Solvency: A statement of why the Affirmative plan will work to address the Harms or problem area.

These arguments are laid out in a pre-scripted speech called the First Affirmative Constructive. After the First Affirmative Constructive (or 1AC), the Negative team will present arguments against the adoption of the affirmative case. These arguments can include any or all of the following: That there is no problem in the status quo, that the Affirmative plan will be ineffective in addressing the problems presented, that the Affirmative plan will do more harm than good, that there is another policy that will work better than the Affirmative plan to solve the harms of the Affirmative case, that the Affirmative case falls out side of the topic area, that the assumptions of the Affirmative case are flawed, and a whole host of other arguments.

Policy debating offers students a wide variety of skills, including public speaking, research, logical analysis, thinking spontaneously and critically, critical literacy, team building and cooperation, and a wealth of specific knowledge about the topic area.

Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Parliamentary Debate
Parliamentary Debate occurs between a pair of two person teams. 15 minutes before each debate round begins, students are given a topic to prepare a debate on. At Golden Gate Speech Association league tournaments, the topics for the four rounds fall into one of four categories: Policy, Values, Factual or Student-Selected. One team will uphold the resolutional statement of the topic; this team is called the Proposition. The team who argues against them is called the Opposition. There are six speeches given in the debate round; four constructives and two rebuttals. One student on each team gives a constructive speech and a rebuttal speech, while the other student gives one constructive speech.

All speeches given in a parliamentary debate round are unscripted; students may use notes and materials to prepare, but no outside quotes are read during the debate round. During the constructive speeches, debaters from the team that does not have the floor may request that the speaker yield the floor for a 15-second "point of information," which can be a question, comment or argument. The speaker who has the floor may choose whether to yield the floor for the point of information.

Parliamentary debate is a new event in the Golden Gate Speech Association, and we will be reviewing its effects and structure on an ongoing basis.

Student Congress (Congressional Debate)
A Student Congress is modeled after the procedure for floor debate in a legislature. It is designed to test a student's ability to speak to an issue in both an extemporaneous and impromptu manner and to reveal the individual's knowledge of parliamentary procedure. Bills and resolutions to be debated are determined in advance, and students are given time, usually 4-6 weeks to prepare to speak on these issues.

Student Congress should be viewed as a process that includes argumentation, analysis, questioning, clash of ideas, and delivery. A thorough knowledge of parliamentary procedure should be reflected in each speaker's courtesy and decorum. Judges should evaluate or rank speakers based on the speaker's overall contribution to the debate rather than as an oratory contest.

A student presiding officer will run each session. In order to speak or ask a question, a congressperson must be recognized by the presiding officer. All speeches should be delivered from the front of the room. Each speech is limited to three minutes. In addition, each speaker is open for a maximum of one minute of cross-examination. Notes and prepared material are allowed in delivering speeches. Visual aids and props are NOT allowed.