Wealth Inequality and Democratic Ideals in Debate Class

For the last month Debate students have been working on and writing cases to answer the TAPPS Lincoln Douglas Debate resolution for the year: “In the United States, wealth inequality is detrimental to democratic ideals.” Students must prepare cases both for and against this statement and they were able to test out their cases before their peers during class this week.

For those unfamiliar with Lincoln Douglas Debate, here is the basic structure and outline:

Speech Time Limit Responsibility of Debater
Affirmative Constructive 6 min Present the affirmative case
Negative Cross-Examination 3 min Negative asks questions of the affirmative
Negative Constructive/Negative Rebuttal 7 min Present the negative case and refute the affirmative case
Affirmative Cross-Examination 3 min Affirmative asks questions of the negative
First Affirmative Rebuttal 4 min Refute the negative case and rebuild the affirmative case
2nd Negative Rebuttal 6 min Refute the affirmative case, rebuild the negative case, and offer reasons that negative should win the round, commonly referred to as voting issues.
2nd Affirmative Rebuttal 3 min Address negative voting issues and offer crystallization for why the affirmative should win.

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