E-DAYS DEBATE COMPETITION RULES

By The Committee of E-Days Debate Competition

1. FORMAT OF COMPETITION

a. The competition will consist of the following stages:

i. Stage One: known as the “Preliminary Stage” consists of three preliminary rounds

ii. Stage Two: known as the “Break Stage” consist of semifinal and final rounds

b. Phase one of the competition is to be scored in usual manner (see part 12, ‘Marking the Debate’) and tabulated. The tabulation system must be ‘power-matched’, and teams in rounds two to five are to be matched and ranked based on this system.

c. The sequence determining match-ups and result at the ‘break’ stage is as follows:

i. Win versus loss record (victory points);

ii. Overall points total (all total team points each round added together);j

iii. Points differential (all win/loss margins added together);

iv. Head to head records (if teams have met during one or more the preliminary rounds).

d. If there is still a tie after each of these stages of the sequence has been assessed and there are places in the final series at stake, team thus affected will meet in repercharge matches on the day before the break is announced and the winner(s) will advance.

e. At the conclusion of Phase One, the top eight teams will advance to Phase Two which is the final series, and will be in strict knock-out format (only winners’ advance).

f. Phase Two will follow the sequence:

i. Semifinals (four teams)

ii. Grand Finals (two teams).

g. The team emerging victorious at the conclusion of the Grand Final will be recognized as the E-Days debating Champion, and the institution they represent as champion university/school for the year following and until the next running of the championship.

2. FORMAT OF DEBATE

a. This competition is carried out in the Asian Style.

b. A debate will consist of two teams, one to propose the motion and one to oppose it. The team proposing may be known as ‘The Proposition’, ‘The Affirmative’ or ‘The Government’. The team opposing may be known as ‘The Opposition’ or ‘The Negative’.

c. A team is comprised of 3 members. A team may only be eligible to debate with all its members present, and may not add or change members throughout the competition for whatever reason.

d. Teams shall only comprise of members who are still active as students.

e. A team failing to have all its original members present to debate in a particular round will forfeit the debate (see PART 14: a).

f. A debate shall be run under the auspices of a ‘Speaker’ who shall be referred to as ‘The Speaker of The House’ or ‘Mister/Madam Speaker’.

g. A debate shall be adjudicated by a panel comprising an odd number of adjudicators, one of whom shall be designated as Chair Adjudicator by the committee.

h. A debate shall be timed by a timekeeper. In the event that none has been nominated in a particular chamber, the function of the timekeeper is to be taken over by a member of the adjudication panel.

i. Teams will comprise the following members:

AFFIRMATIVE

i. Prime Minister, or Leader of the Affirmative;

ii. Deputy Prime Minister, or Second Affirmative;

iii. Government Whip, or Third Affirmative.

NEGATIVE

i. Leader of the Opposition, or First Negative;

ii. Deputy Leader of the Opposition, or Second Negative;

iii. Opposition Whip, or Third Negative.

j. Debaters (or members) will speak in the following order:

i. Prime Minister, or 1^st Affirmative;

ii. Leader of Opposition, or 1^st Negative;

iii. Deputy Prime Minister, or 2^nd Affirmative;

iv. Deputy Leader of the Opposition, or 2^nd Negative;

v. Government Whip, or 3^rd Affirmative;

vi. Opposition Whip, or 3^rd Negative;

vii. Negative Reply (given by 1^st or 2^nd Negative);

viii. Affirmative Reply (given by 1^st or 2^nd Affirmative).

k. Speakers not ‘holding the floor’ may not rise during speech unless it is to offer a ‘Point of Information’ (see PART 6: a). Speakers who are considered to be hackling/barracking or whose behavior is interfering with the acceptable course of a debate will be declared ‘out of order’ by the chairperson.

l. Interjections should be brief, pertinent and preferably witty. Interjections are comments made by members directed at the speech of the member holding the floor, and made from a seated position.

3. MOTIONS

a. Motion will be given 1 week before the competition (at the time of technical meeting).

b. There will be 6 theme of motion. Each theme consists of three motions that must be prepared by the participant before the competition.

c. At d-day, in every round the committee will announce one of the three motions from each theme that will be the motion of that round.

d. Motions must reflect the currency of regional and global issues and the theme come by those issues.

4. PREPARATIONS

a. Match-ups and venues are announced before motions are revealed.

b. Motion is to be announced/revealed to teams 15 minutes prior to the commencement of debates in that particular round.

c. The teams are then, AND ONLY THEN, permitted to leave the debaters’ hall and begin their preparations.

d. Teams are allocated 15 minutes of preparation time to build their case which started when the motion is announced.

e. The affirmative have the right to prepare in chambers (venue).

f. Printed and prepared materials may be used during the preparation period. No access to electronic media or electronic storage or retrieval devices is permitted after motions have been released. Printed and prepared material may be accessed during a debate, but MAY NOT be used during a speech.

g. Teams must prepare on their own. Once motions have been released, there must be no contact between debaters in a particular team and their coachers, trainers, observers, or any other individual for the purposes of assistance in the context of the debate. To prevent such contact, all communication devices belonging to team members, including but not limited to cell phones and beepers, are prohibited to be used and shall be in the custody of the team’s LO during the 15 minutes preparation time and during the debate round itself.

i. Such contact and assistance is cheating and will be punished by having to forfeit (see PART 14: a) -from the round in question, at the least, and the competition, at the most- at the discretion of the committee.

h. Teams must arrive at their chamber at least ten minutes before the scheduled/given time of commencement of debate.

i. A debate shall begin after the 15 minutes preparation time has finished, and all the adjudicators for that particular debate have arrived at the chamber.

j. If a team fails to arrive at the chamber after the 15 minutes preparation time has elapsed and all the adjudicators are present, the debate shall be postponed for 5 minutes to wait for the team to arrive.

k. If the team referred to in rule 4.j still hasn’t arrived at the chamber after the 5 minutes of waiting has elapsed, the team in question will forfeit the debate (see PART 14: a).

5. TIMING

a. It is the duty of the timekeeper, or a member of the adjudication panel, to time speeches.

b. The timing of each speech starts at the moment that the member begins speaking.

c. Timings of speeches are the following in both stage one and stage two :

Constructive Speeches 7 minutes

Reply Speeches 4 minutes

d. Time signals will be given in the following manner,

Constructive Speeches

End of first minute – first single knock

End of sixth minute – second single knock

End of the seventh minute – double knock

Reply Speeches

End of third minute – single knock

End of fourth minute – double knock

6. POINTS OF INFORMATION

a. Points of information may be offered during constructive speeches, after the first single knock and up to the second single knock. Points of information may not be offered during the first and last minutes of constructive speeches. Points of information may not be offered during the reply speeches.

b. ‘Point of Information’ must be indicated by a member of an opposing team rising from his/her seat, placing one hand on top of his/her head and extending the others towards the member holding the floor. A member offering a point of information may draw attention to the offer by saying “on that point Sir/Madam”, or similar.

c. A member holding the floor must respond to an opposing member, or members offering points of information, in one of the following ways:

i. A clear gesture or a hand signal rejecting the offer,

ii. A verbal rejection of the offer,

iii. A verbal acceptance of the offer.

e. If a point of information is accepted, the point should be phrased as question, or clarification, or comment, and be made in approximately 15 seconds. The time keeping of a speaker's substantive speech will not be stopped during POI.

f. If a point of information is accepted, the speaker accepting must answer or response to it within the context of his/her speech.

7. ADJUDICATION

a. Debates in Phase One of the competition will be adjudicated by panel of three adjudicators, or, where this is not possible, by a single, experienced adjudicator.

b. Debates in Quarter, and Semi will be adjudicated by a minimum of three and a maximum of five adjudicators. The Grand Final will be adjudicated by a minimum of five and a maximum of nine adjudicators.

c. Adjudicators advancing to the final series must posses credible experience (as an adjudicator at WUDC, Australians, JOVED, IVED, ISDC, E-COMP, FT, or All-Asians), and have demonstrated consistency during the competition.

d. Adjudicator will arrive at their decisions on an individual basis, fill in the necessary ballots, and pass their completed forms and ballots to the chairpersons. The decision will be a panel decision. Prior to the announcement of the decision, the chair may call upon the other panel members for the purpose of:

i. Determining best speaker nominations,

ii. Calling upon one of the other panel members to give feedback in the event of the Chair being on the minority side of a split decision.

e. At the end of the debate, the Chair of the adjudication panel will announce the decision and give an oral adjudication. This is to occur in every round of competitive debating except for the Grand Final, unless decided otherwise by the committee.

f. Chairs may not announce marks, nor indicate the margin of win/loss unless asked to by the Chief Adjudicator of the competition. All adjudicators are expected to observe the confidentiality of individual and team scores, and margins.

g. Adjudication will be based on the awards of marks in three categories: Matter (40%), Manner (40%) and Method (20%), for individual speeches and a team’s response to the dynamics of the debate (see PART 9, 10, 11).

h. An adjudicator's decision is final and binding.

8. DEFINITIONS

a. The definition is an interpretation of the motion as put forward by the Prime Minister, or Leader of the Affirmative, in the beginning of his/her speech.

b. The definitions should be reasonable.

c. The definitions should state the issue or issues arising out of the motion to be debated, state the meanings of any terms in the motion requiring clarification, and display clear and logical link to the wording and spirit of the motion.

d. The definition should not be:

i. A truism (a matter stated as a fact),

ii. A tautology (a definition which in development proves it self),

iii. Place set (setting an unnaturally restrictive geographical of spatial location as its major parameter),

iv. Time set (setting an unnaturally restrictive chronological duration as its main parameter),

v. Squirelling (displaying no clear or logical links to the motion).

e. The negative may only challenge the definitions on the basis of one of these conditions pertaining (see PART 8: d). The negative may not challenge the definition on the basis that:

i. Its own definition is MORE reasonable.

ii. A better debate will result.

f. Nor may the negative re-define terms or words contained in the motion so that a completely different debate is thereby set up. However, a Negative may contend with the specific or general approach to terminology supplied by the definition of the Affirmative.

9. CHALLENGING DEFINITION

a. If the definition advanced by the Leader of the Affirmative contravenes any of the prohibitions set out in this rule (see PART 8: d), the Negative have the right to challenge the definition.

b. The challenge must be made in the speech of the Leader of the Opposition, following a clear statement that the Affirmative’s definition is rejected.

c. In the event of a challenge, the Leader of the Opposition must justify his/her rejection by supplying the grounds of which the original definition is being rejected. Furthermore, a substitute definition must be supplied, which the opposition bench must go on to negate.

d. The debate which follow is characterized by the use of the ‘even if’ arguments, unless a truism has been categorically exposed.

e. If the Leader of the Opposition does not challenge the definition, no other speaker may do so.

f. The burden to prove that a definition is unreasonable is on the Opposition.

g. Adjudicators will not indicate during the debate which definition they find to be more acceptable.

h. Neither team should abandon either the definitions or the challenges of its opening speakers.

i. Definitions should not require members of the house to have access to, or posses, specific or expert knowledge.

10. MATTER

a. ‘Matter’ relates to issues in debate, the case being presented and the material used to substantive argument.

b. The issues under debate should be correctly prioritized and ordered, dealing with the most important first.

c. Matter should be logical and well reasoned.

d. Matter should be relevant, both to the issue in contention and the cases being advanced.

e. Matter should be persuasive.

f. Matter will be assessed from the viewpoint of ‘the average reasonable person.’ Adjudicators must disregard any specialist knowledge they have, even though pertinent to the issues under debate.

g. Bias will not affect an adjudicator assessment or evaluation of a debate. Debaters must not be discriminated against on the basis of religion, sex, race, nationality, sexual preferences, age, social status, accent, or any disability.

h. Points of information should be assessed according to the effect they have on both the cases of the speaker offering, and the speaker responding.

i. A debater should take at least two points of information during a speech.

j. A Government Whip (Third Affirmative) may introduce ‘new matter’ to the debate, but is advised not to do so (new matter in this context means a new argument and does not refer to either new perspectives on an old argument or new examples, unless these change the course of the original argument entirely).

k. An Opposition Whip (Third Negative) is NOT permitted to introduce new matter into the debate, UNLESS the argument is clearly in rebuttal of a new argument delivered by the third affirmative.

l. No ‘new matter’ is to be introduced during the Reply Speeches. The reply speech presents teams with an opportunity to focus on major issues in the debate and the way in which both teams approach that ‘point of clash’. The reply speech should also give an ‘optimistic overview’ of the general approach to the debate by both sides and focus on the relative merits on the case of the side replying, and the relative weaknesses on the case of the opposing team. Reply Speech should neither continue rebutting arguments, nor advancing old arguments into significantly new ‘territory’.

m. All speakers must develop ‘positive matter’ in advancing their respective cases. A negative team cannot rely purely on its rebuttal of the affirmative case and must present a case in opposition.

n. Whips (third speakers) may not give reply speeches.

11. MANNER

a. Manner refers to the presentation and delivery style of a speaker.

b. The following list represents some of the elements which are, or may be, subsumed under manner. The list is intended as a guide, rather than as a number of marking categories. It’s a combination of these elements (rather than the accomplishment of each), in various proportions that contributes to an individual speaker’s style. The major influence on an adjudicator must be: “Is the speaker’s manner EFFECTIVE in advancing the case?”

The considerations are:

i. Vocal style : volume, clarity, pronunciation, pace, intonation, fluency, confidence, authority

ii. Language : conversational

iii. Use of notes : should not distract, should not be read

iv. Eye contact : with audience and adjudicators

v. Gesture : natural appropriate

vi. Stance : natural appropriate

vii. Sincerity : believability

viii. Personal attacks :(derogatory comments are not to be tolerated)

ix. Humor :effectiveness

c. Participants in E-Comp debates must be aware that they will experience many different debating styles from different universities and high schools represented therein. There is no single ‘correct’ or ‘right’ style to adopt in this competition.

d. As with matter (see PART 10: g), personal bias must not be allowed to influence an adjudicator’s assessment of manner.

12. METHOD

a. There are three major elements in the context of debating method. These are:

i. Individual method (speech structure),

ii. Team method (case structure and organization),

iii. Response to the dynamics of the debate (POIs, interjections and effectiveness, accuracy and relevance of rebuttals).

b. Individual method pertains to the structure and organization of an individual speech. This may be evident in reasonably clear outline of the issues to be dealt with in a speaker’s speech. It may also be apparent in the degree of fluency with which the speech moves from one point to another in a clear, logical sequence. Similarly, a speaker may ‘sign-post’ his/her transition from one phase to another.

c. Individual method pertains to the ‘balance’ of a speech. Whereby an equable division of speaking time is made to allow each of the phases of the speech a reasonable time for development (opening remarks, rebuttal, own point, summary, etc).

d. Individual method pertains to good time management and good time keeping.

i. Over time speeches:

Once the double knock of the gravel has sounded, speakers are given a 20-seconds ‘grace period’, during which they should conclude remarks already under contention. It is not a time for a new matter to be introduced, and such new matter will be discounted by the adjudicators. Speakers continuing after this ‘grace period’ may be penalized in the Method category.

ii. Under time speeches:

If the speaker concludes his/her speech on or near the second single knock of the gravel, he/she will not be penalized for an under time speech. However, if significantly under time, a speaker may be penalized under Method and possibly also under Matter. The latter, assuming that less matter was advanced, or that it was clearly underdeveloped.

e. Team Method pertains to the effectiveness of the team’s case organization and structure as a whole.

f. Team Method pertains to the equable division of role of speakers and responsibilities during a debate, and the effective acquittal of those roles and responsibilities.

g. Response to the dynamics of the debate pertains to the reactive abilities of speakers and teams to the ongoing strategies being employed by both sides, and the shifts in the balance of power from one side to another.

h. Teams and speakers should response to clear strategic issues, not minor ‘slips of the tongue’ or insignificant points.

i. Dynamic response may also affect Matter marks for a speaker in cases where the identification of a vital point, the cogent analysis of this point in the context of the debate and a balance attacks on it is develop in an ensuing speech.

j. Team members may keep time and signal member holding the floor. Time signal may not be spoken aloud. Speakers may also keep their own time.

13. MARKING THE DEBATE

a. At the end of every debate, each adjudicator must complete his/her adjudication forms. In addition, the Chair Adjudicator must complete a ‘speed ballot’ form and give it to the LO before starting the feedback.

b. There is no draw in a competitive debating!

c. Composite and swing teams winning (or losing) debates will be marked, tabulated, and matched for subsequent rounds in the usual way.

d. Composite and swing teams will not be considered as potentially breaking teams.

e. Speakers from composite or swing teams will not be eligible to become best speakers of the competition.

f. Marks shall be awarded to speakers based on the following:

i. An ‘average’ substantive speech shall be awarded

Matter : 30/40

Manner : 30/40

Method : 15/20

Total : 75/100

ii. Downwards from this average, the worst speech in the history of debating would still get 69 or 70/100.

iii. Upwards from this average, the best speech in the history of debating would only get 80 or 81/100.

iv. Reply speeches are to be marked out of total of 50 marks (or 100/2)

v. An ‘average’ reply speech shall be awarded

Matter : 15/20

Manner : 15/20

Method : 7,5/10

Total : 37,5/50

k. The ‘average’ mark for an ‘average team’ is therefore:

75+75+75+37,5=262,5

l. The weak low is therefore: 70+70+70+35=245.

m. The strong high is therefore: 80+80+80+40=280.

n. Half marks cannot be awarded for constructive speeches but may result from the division of a reply speech mark.

o. A possible mark spread of 35 points is unacceptable for the purpose of power match tabulation. Therefore, adjudicator must determine, at the conclusion of a debate:

i. Whether the standard of the debate was average, higher than average of lower than average; and

ii. Whether the margin of win/loss was (subjective) close, clear or thrashing.

p. Adjudicator must manipulate marks accordingly to reflect their perception of the standard of the debate and the winning margin, by the following the maximum mark differentials (between the total marks of the two teams) of:

Close Win = 0,5 points to 3,5 points

Clear Win = 4 to 8,5 points

Overwhelming = 9 to 12 points

NO MARGIN BEYOND 12 IS PERMITTED.

14. PENALTIES

a. Teams forfeited from a round of debate will lose the debate by the widest possible margin. The opposing team in such a case will win the debate and be given the mean average individual and team score for all teams in that particular round.

b. A team forfeited TWICE during the preliminary rounds will be disqualified from the competition.

c. Any violations of the provisions in this rule are subject to penalties at the discretion of the committee.

d. Penalties may include deduction of victory points, margin points, individual scores, team scores, or disqualification.