American Parliamentary Debating Association

The American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA) is the oldest intercollegiate parliamentary debating

Debate

Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...

association in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and one of two in the nation overall, the other being the National Parliamentary Debate Association (NPDA)

National Parliamentary Debate Association

The National Parliamentary Debate Association is one of the two national intercollegiate parliamentary debate organizations in the United States. The other is the American Parliamentary Debate Association. The NPDA is a relatively young organization, but it is now the largest college debate...

. APDA sponsors roughly 40 tournaments a year, all in a parliamentary format, as well as a National Championship. It also administers the North American Debating Championship

North American Debating Championship

The North American Debating Championship is the official university debating championship of North America, sanctioned by the national university debating associations in the United States and Canada, the American Parliamentary Debate Association and the Canadian University Society for...

with the Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate Debate

Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate Debate

The Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate Debate is the national organization which governs all competitive university debating and public speaking in Canada. It sanctions several official annual tournaments and represents Canadian debating domestically and abroad...

(CUSID). Although it is mainly funded by its member universities, APDA is an entirely student-run organization.

Organizational structure

APDA comprises about 40 universities, mainly in the Northeast, ranging as far north as Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

and as far south as Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. Most of its members are private colleges:

all of the Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...

schools
American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
Bucknell University
Bucknell University
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts university located alongside the West Branch Susquehanna River in the rolling countryside of Central Pennsylvania in the town of Lewisburg, 30 miles southeast of Williamsport and 60 miles north of Harrisburg. The university consists of the College of...
Providence College
Providence College
Providence College is a private, coeducational, Catholic university located about two miles west of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, United States, the state's capital city. With a 2010–2011 enrollment of 3,850 undergraduate students and 735 graduate students, the College specializes in academic...
New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
Fordham University
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
Williams
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
Amherst
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
Wellesley
George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
Union College
Union College
Union College is a private, non-denominational liberal arts college located in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. In the 19th century, it became the "Mother of Fraternities", as...
Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
Northeastern University
Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
West Point
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
Middlebury
Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
Bates
Bates College
Bates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...
Swarthmore
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
Hamilton College
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Hobart and William Smith Colleges, located in Geneva, New York, are together a liberal arts college offering Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in Teaching degrees. In athletics, however, the two schools compete with separate teams, known as the Hobart Statesmen and the...

.
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...

It also includes several public universities, such as—

William and Mary
College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...
Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
The College of New Jersey
The College of New Jersey
The College of New Jersey, abbreviated TCNJ, is a public, coeducational university located in Ewing Township, New Jersey, a suburb of Trenton....
University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
Florida International University
Florida International University
Florida International University is an American public research university in metropolitan Miami, Florida, in the United States, with its main campus in University Park...
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Rhode Island College
Rhode Island College
Rhode Island College is a nationally ranked, coeducational, state-supported comprehensive college founded in 1854, located in Providence, Rhode Island, USA...
Virginia Tech
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech , is a public land-grant university with the main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia with other research and educational centers throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and internationally.Founded in...

A few APDA institutions are also located elsewhere in the United States, most notably Stanford

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

and the University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

.

APDA members stage weekly debating tournaments, each at a different university and occurring throughout the academic year. Some weekends have two debating tournaments, one north of New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

and one south of New York City

New York City

, in order to shorten transport time. However, centrally located tournaments or particularly prestigious tournaments, such as those at Columbia

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, Fordham

Fordham University

Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...

, NYU

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

, Harvard

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, Yale

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

, and Princeton

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

, will frequently be “unopposed”, meaning that they will be the only tournament on that particular weekend. While APDA does play a role in creating a tournament schedule, the tournaments themselves are only loosely coordinated by the APDA body. Individual schools must ensure that their tournaments meet a broad set of APDA guidelines, but are free to tinker with their tournament formats.

There are a number of tournaments in which APDA does play a direct role. Most prominently, APDA sponsors a National Championship at the end of each year. Unlike all other tournaments, debating at Nationals is limited to one team per university, plus any additional teams who “qualified” for Nationals during that debate season. There are several ways to qualify for Nationals, but by far the most common through the 2006-2007 season was to reach the final round of a tournament. Starting with the 2007-2008 season, reaching a tournament's final round still qualifies a team in most cases, but the smallest tournaments do not count as automatic qualifications (but can still qualify debaters with multiple appearances in such final rounds).

In addition, APDA sponsors a novice tournament at the beginning of the season, a pro-am tournament midseason, and the North American Debating Championships, which is held every other year in the United States and includes top teams from the United States and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

APDA also has a ranking system which combines the results of all of the year’s tournaments. Both individual speakers and two-member teams can earn points based on the results of the tournament; these points also scale up depending on the tournament’s size. At the end of the debate season, APDA gives awards to the top teams, speakers, and novices of the year.

APDA is an entirely student-run organization. The APDA board members are students from various host institutions, and most of the tournaments are completely organized by the host school’s debate team. Some teams do have professional coaches, but these are frequently recently retired debaters who wish to stay involved with the circuit.

Tournaments

Weekly debating tournaments are the core of APDA. While numerous schools slightly alter the tournament format, the general format is fairly constant. Tournaments usually start on Friday afternoon and end on Saturday evening. Five preliminary rounds are held, three on Friday and two on Saturday. The first round is randomly paired, while remaining rounds are bracketed, meaning that teams with the same record face each other. Preliminary rounds generally have only one judge, most frequently a debater from the host school. After five rounds, the “break” is announced, consisting of the top eight teams at the tournament. These teams compete in single-elimination quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals, judged by progressively larger panels of judges, and a tournament winner is crowned. Separate semifinals and then finals are held on the basis of the previous five rounds for the top novice team. Trophies are awarded to the top speakers, top teams, and top novice (first-year) debaters. Certain tournaments tinker with the format, having more or fewer preliminary rounds and larger or smaller breaks; the National Championships, for instance, generally has one additional preliminary round and one additional elimination round.

Format

Debates at APDA tournaments follow a debating style known as American Parliamentary Debate, which is modeled loosely on the procedure and decorum of the UK Parliament. This style emphasizes argumentation and rhetoric, rather than research and detailed factual knowledge.

Flow of the round

A round of debate features two teams of two debaters each: the Government team, including the Prime Minister and the Member of Government, and the Opposition team, including the Leader of the Opposition and the Member of the Opposition.

Six speeches in all are delivered, varying in length:

Prime Minister's Constructive: 7 minutes
Leader of the Opposition's Constructive: 8 minutes
Member of Government: 8 minutes
Member of the Opposition: 8 minutes
Leader of the Opposition's Rebuttal: 4 minutes
Prime Minister's Rebuttal: 5 minutes

Points of information

A debater may rise to ask a point of information (POI) of an opponent during the opponent's speech. POIs are only permitted during the first four speeches, except in the first and final minutes of the speech. The speaking debater can choose to hear the POI or to dismiss it politely. Traditionally when standing on a point of information some debaters extend one hand palm up, holding the back of the head with the other. This pose originated in old British Parliamentary etiquette: an MP

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

would adopt the position to secure his wig and show that he was not carrying a weapon.
It is generally considered good form to accept at least two POIs during a speech.

Resolutions

In most rounds, there is no resolution, and the Government team may propose whatever case it wishes consistent with the standards below. Certain tournaments provide both teams with a motion to which the case must conform 15 minutes before the round starts.

Since the Opposition team arrives at the round with no prior knowledge of the case, some kinds of resolutions are not permitted to ensure a fair debate. If Opposition feels that the round fits any one of these categories, they may point this out during the Leader's speech. If the judge agrees, Opposition wins. There are five kinds of disallowed resolutions:

tight resolutions, which are deemed too one-sided (“racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

is bad”, for example);
truism
Truism
A truism is a claim that is so obvious or self-evident as to be hardly worth mentioning, except as a reminder or as a rhetorical or literary device and is the opposite of falsism....

s (“Barack Obama was the greatest Democratic president of the U.S. since Bill Clinton”);
tautologies
Tautology (logic)
In logic, a tautology is a formula which is true in every possible interpretation. Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein first applied the term to redundancies of propositional logic in 1921; it had been used earlier to refer to rhetorical tautologies, and continues to be used in that alternate sense...

(“Good citizens should help the poor,” with goodness defined as "a willingness to do charitable acts");
status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...

resolutions (“The United States should have jury trial
Jury trial
A jury trial is a legal proceeding in which a jury either makes a decision or makes findings of fact which are then applied by a judge...

s”);
specific-knowledge cases, i.e., cases which are unfair toward the Opposition team because they require highly obscure knowledge to oppose effectively ("NASA should replace the current sealant used on the space shuttle with hypoxynucleotide-C4598")

Aside from these five limitations, virtually any topic for debate is fair game, as long as there are two coherent and debatable sides. Debaters may also present opp-choice cases, in which the government team offers the opposition team the chance to choose which side of a topic the government team will defend in the round.

Adjudication

A judge listens to the round and provides quantitative and qualitative assessments of the round as a whole and of the individual speakers. Some rounds use a panel of judges. Judges are usually debaters themselves, but non-debater judges, or lay judges, are sometimes used.

Compared to other styles

The APDA style is generally seen as occupying a middle ground between the styles of
CUSID and NPDA

National Parliamentary Debate Association

. It is somewhat more rule-oriented and structured than the CUSID style, as point-by-point argumentation and careful structure are considered very important. It also emphasizes detailed analysis and de-emphasizes oratory as compared to CUSID. However, APDA style is less structured and theoretical than the NPDA

National Parliamentary Debate Association

style, and demands less usage of technical debate formalisms.

Types of cases

APDA's format allows for an enormous variety of cases. This list is not comprehensive, but should be treated as a general sketch of the case climate.

Public policy

Cases about public policy are among the most common cases on APDA. They include common public policy debates (school vouchers

Education voucher

A school voucher, also called an education voucher, is a certificate issued by the government, which parents can apply toward tuition at a private school , rather than at the state school to which their child is assigned...

, term limit

Term limit

A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to curb the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for...

s, euthanasia

Euthanasia

Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....

, capital punishment

Capital punishment

Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...

, race-based affirmative action

Affirmative action

Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...

) as well as more unconventional ideas (mandatory organ donation

Organ donation

Organ donation is the donation of biological tissue or an organ of the human body, from a living or dead person to a living recipient in need of a transplantation. Transplantable organs and tissues are removed in a surgical procedure following a determination, based on the donor's medical and...

, proxy voting

Proxy voting

Proxy voting has two forms: delegable voting and delegated voting, which are procedures for the delegation to another member of a voting body of that member's power to vote in his absence, and/or for the selection of additional representatives, as in the case with transitive proxies...

for children, private criminal prosecution, and innumerable others). Libertarian

Libertarianism

Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...

policy proposals, such as abolishing the minimum wage

Minimum wage

A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...

or abolishing paternalistic laws

Paternalism

Paternalism refers to attitudes or states of affairs that exemplify a traditional relationship between father and child. Two conditions of paternalism are usually identified: interference with liberty and a beneficent intention towards those whose liberty is interfered with...

, are particularly popular. Cases involving the policies of particular organizations are popular as well, such as debates surrounding university speech codes. Additionally, broad social questions can be discussed without centering the case around a government actor; “Are trade unions, all things considered, a good thing for society?” is a perfectly acceptable opp-choice debate case.

Political theory

Abstract questions about political philosophy are also popular topics of debate.
Cases about the relative benefits of the Rawlsian

John Rawls

John Bordley Rawls was an American philosopher and a leading figure in moral and political philosophy. He held the James Bryant Conant University Professorship at Harvard University....

“veil of ignorance” versus the Hobbesian

Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...

“state of nature

State of nature

State of nature is a term in political philosophy used in social contract theories to describe the hypothetical condition that preceded governments...

”, for instance, are commonplace. These rounds will generally be folded into moral hypotheticals; for instance, rather than a team actually proposing that the veil of ignorance is a worthwhile political theory, a team might argue that economic human rights should be included in constitutions, and use the veil of ignorance as a justification.

Law and legal theory

All aspects of law are fair game on APDA, including constitutional law (e.g. whether a Supreme Court case was wrongly decided), procedural law (e.g. whether standards of proof should differ for criminal and civil law) and abstract legal theory (e.g. whether retributive justice

Retributive justice

Retributive justice is a theory of justice that considers that punishment, if proportionate, is a morally acceptable response to crime, with an eye to the satisfaction and psychological benefits it can bestow to the aggrieved party, its intimates and society....

is a moral justification for the criminal justice

Criminal justice

Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...

system).

Foreign policy

Many aspects of American and international foreign policy make for excellent debate rounds. Various aspects of policy related to Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, North Korea

North Korea

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

, and Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

are frequent debate topics.

Moral hypotheticals

Hypothetical moral dilemmas are popular topics for debate, given that they can be discussed with a minimum of specific knowledge and a maximum of argumentation. They can range from completely fantastical situations (“If you had definitive proof that one particular religion

Religion

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

was the true religion

Religion

, should you reveal it to society?”) to unlikely occurrences (“Should you kill one person to save five other people?”) to dilemmas we face every day (“You see a homeless

Homelessness

Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...

person on the street, should you give him money you have in your pocket?”) The infinite number of hypothetical situations that can give rise to moral dilemmas make many moral hypothetical cases unique.

Abstract philosophy

Although somewhat less common than tangible moral hypotheticals, all aspects of philosophy make their way into debate rounds. Ethics is probably the most debated field of philosophy, including both abstract metaethics and modern ethical problems like the trolley problem

Trolley problem

The trolley problem is a thought experiment in ethics, first introduced by Philippa Foot, but also extensively analysed by Judith Jarvis Thomson, Peter Unger, and Frances Kamm...

. However, philosophy of religion

Philosophy of religion

Philosophy of religion is a branch of philosophy concerned with questions regarding religion, including the nature and existence of God, the examination of religious experience, analysis of religious language and texts, and the relationship of religion and science...

(“Is it rational to be an atheist

Atheism

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...

?”), philosophy of mind

Philosophy of mind

Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. The mind-body problem, i.e...

(“Can a computer have mental states?”) and even philosophy of language

Philosophy of language

Philosophy of language is the reasoned inquiry into the nature, origins, and usage of language. As a topic, the philosophy of language for analytic philosophers is concerned with four central problems: the nature of meaning, language use, language cognition, and the relationship between language...

(“Does love result from appreciation of someone’s properties, or does appreciation of someone’s properties result from love?”) can result in excellent rounds.

Time-space

One type of case, common on APDA but rare on other circuits, is the time-space case. This places the speaker in the position of some real-life, fictional, or historical figure. Only information accessible to a person in that position is legal in this type of round. For instance, “You are Socrates

Socrates

Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...

. Don’t commit suicide” could not reference events that took place after Socrates

Socrates

’ death. The speaker can be a fictional character (“You are Homer Simpson

Homer Simpson

Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...

. Do not sell your soul”), a historical character (“You are Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

. Do not sign the emancipation proclamation

Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation is an executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War using his war powers. It proclaimed the freedom of 3.1 million of the nation's 4 million slaves, and immediately freed 50,000 of them, with nearly...

”) or virtually any other sentient individual.

One notable type of time-space case is the historical hypothetical case, in which decisions made by particular historical figures are debated from their historical context. Debates surrounding, for instance, Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

strategy or World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

alliances are commonplace. These types of debates often require a detailed knowledge of history.

Time-space cases are a particularly sensitive type of case for the government, because their setting must leave room for the opposition to defeat the case even if that would go against the historical outcome already known to everyone in the room.

Comedy cases

Teams occasionally choose to debate very funny or silly topics in rounds. In this case, the round often becomes a contest over wit and style rather than pure analysis. “Disneyland should secede

Secession

Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...

from the United States” or “The Social Security

Social Security (United States)

In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...

system should be transformed into a free buffet” are examples of this type of round, which have been known to get quite bizarre.

Numerous cases are run on APDA that do not fit into any of the categories; case construction is a skill that requires significant creativity, and coming up with unique debate topics is a very important skill on the APDA circuit.

History of APDA

APDA was founded in 1982 at Fordham University, at a tournament called the "Fordham Fandango." It has dramatically grown in size since then. It became an incorporated

Incorporation (business)

Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...

organization in 2000, mainly for reasons of legal liability. The tale of APDA's creation can be found at APDAWeb.

APDA Presidents

2011-2012 Ashley Woods, Northeastern University

2010-2011 Alex Taubes, Boston University

Boston University

Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...

2009-2010 Adam Goldstein

Adam Goldstein (author)

Adam Goldstein started his own online software company, GoldfishSoft, at age 14 and began writing alongside David Pogue for The Missing Manual series at the age of 16...

, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

2008-2009 Andrew Rohrbach, Yale University

Yale University

2007-2008 Christopher Baia, Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

2006-2007 John Hollwitz, Fordham University

Fordham University

2005-2006 Robbie Pratt, The College of William and Mary

2004-2005 Andrew Korn, Yale University

Yale University

2003-2004 Angelo Carusone, Fordham University

Fordham University

2002-2003 Greg Jennings, University of Maryland, College Park

University of Maryland, College Park

The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...

2001-2002 Jeff Williams, Columbia University

Columbia University

2000-2001 Scott Luftglass, Yale University

Yale University

1999-2000 Matt Schwartz, Princeton University

Princeton University

1998-1999 John Williams, Princeton University

Princeton University

1997-1998 Ben Karlin, Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

1996-1997 Peter Stris, University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

1995-1996 Chris Paolella, Princeton University

Princeton University

1994-1995 Gordon Todd, Princeton University

Princeton University

1993-1994 Martin Eltrich, University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

1992-1993 Damon Watson, Princeton University

Princeton University

1991-1992 Ted Niblock, Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

1990-1991 Mike Galvin, Harvard University

Harvard University

1981-1982 David Martland, Princeton University

Princeton University

Chris Porcaro Award winners

This award is given to the fourth-year debater with the most top speaker finishes in his or her APDA career. It is named after Chris Porcaro, the 1998 APDA speaker of the year, who died of cancer in 2000.

2011 Alex Taubes, Boston University

Boston University

2010 (Tie) Vivek Suri, Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

and Grant May, Yale University

Yale University

2009 Michael Childers, Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

2008 Andy Hill, The College of William and Mary

2007 Matthew Wansley, Yale

Yale University

2006 Jon Bateman, Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

2005 (Tie) Alex Blenkinsopp, Harvard

Harvard University

; Kat Hyland, Fordham

Fordham University

; Kate Reilly, Princeton

Princeton University

2004 (Tie) Brookes Brown, Brown

Brown University

; Neil Vakharia, NYU

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

2003 Phil Larochelle, MIT

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2002 Emily Garin, Princeton

Princeton University

2001 David Silverman, Princeton

Princeton University

APDA Speakers of the Year

2011 Alex Taubes, Boston University

Boston University

2010 Vivek Suri, Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

2009 Daniel Rauch, Princeton University

Princeton University

2008 Andy Hill, The College of William and Mary

2007 Adam Chilton, Yale University

Yale University

2006 Jon Bateman, Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

2005 Robbie Pratt, The College of William and Mary

2004 Brookes Brown, Brown

Brown University

2003 Phil Larochelle, MIT

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2002 Emily Garin, Princeton

Princeton University

2001 Brian Fletcher, Yale

Yale University

2000 David Silverman, Princeton

Princeton University

1999 Peter Guirguis, NYU

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

1998 (Tie) Micah Weinberg, Princeton

Princeton University

; Chris Porcaro, NYU

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

1997 John Oleske, Princeton

Princeton University

1996 Chris Paolella, Princeton

Princeton University

1995 Doug Kern, Princeton

Princeton University

1994 Thanos Basdekis, Columbia

Columbia University

1993 Damon Watson, Princeton

Princeton University

1992 Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz

Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz is the former Solicitor General of Texas, a position he held from 2003 to May 2008. Cruz was appointed by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. He was the first Hispanic Solicitor General in Texas, the youngest Solicitor General in America and the longest to hold the...

, Princeton

Princeton University

1991 David Gray, Yale

Yale University

1990 Matt Wolf, Yale

Yale University

1989 John Gastil, Swarthmore

Swarthmore College

Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....

1988 Bart Aronson, Yale

Yale University

1987 Bart Aronson, Yale

Yale University

Jeff Williams Award winners

Created in 2007, the Jeff Williams award is presented to the fourth year debater who, in the course of their APDA career, has earned the most finishes in the top ten of any OTY category.

2011 Alex Taubes, Boston University

Boston University

2010 (Tie) Vivek Suri Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

, and Grant May, Yale University

Yale University

2009 Michael Childers Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

2008 (Tie) Chris Baia, Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

, and Andrew Hill, College of William and Mary

College of William and Mary

The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...

2007 Adam Chilton, Yale University

Yale University

APDA Teams of the Year

2011 Boston University

Boston University

: Greg Meyer and Alex Taubes

2010 Harvard

Harvard University

: Cormac Early and Kyle Bean

2009 Princeton

Princeton University

: Daniel Rauch and Zayn Siddique

2008 Yale

Yale University

: Josh Bone and Andrew Rohrbach

2007 Yale

Yale University

: Matthew Wansley and Adam Chilton

2006 The College of William and Mary: Chris Ford and Robbie Pratt

2005 (Tie) Harvard

Harvard University

: David Kimel and Jason Wen, Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

: Jon Bateman and Michael Mayernick, The College of William and Mary: Chris Ford and Robbie Pratt

2004 Princeton

Princeton University

: Christian Asmar and Kate Reilly

2003 Yale

Yale University

: Adam Jed and Elizabeth O’Connor

2002 Princeton

Princeton University

: Edward Parillon and Yoni Schneller

2001 Yale

Yale University

: Brian Fletcher and Scott Luftglass

2000 Princeton

Princeton University

: Laurence Bleicher and David Silverman

1999 Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

: Jon Cohen and Dave Riordan

1998 Princeton

Princeton University

: Jason Goldman and Niall O’Murchadha

1997 Williams

Williams College

Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...

: Chris Willenken and Amanda Amert

1996 Stanford

Stanford University

: Brendan Maher and Matt Meskell

1995 Columbia

Columbia University

: Arlo Devlin-Brown and Dan Stein

1994 Columbia

Columbia University

: Thanos Basdekis and Arlo Devlin-Brown

1993 Columbia

Columbia University

: Thanos Basdekis and Morty Dubin

1992 Princeton

Princeton University

: Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz

and Dave Panton

1991 Yale University

Yale University

: David Gray and Austan Goolsbee

Austan Goolsbee

Austan Dean Goolsbee is an American economist, formerly serving as the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and the youngest member of the cabinet of President Barack Obama. Goolsbee is from the University of Chicago where he is the Robert P...

1990 Wesleyan

Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...

: Mark Berkowitz and Dan Prieto

1989 Columbia

Columbia University

: Andrew Cohen and Rob Kaplan

1988 University of Maryland, Baltimore County: Greg Ealick and Mark Voyce

1987 Swarthmore

Swarthmore College

: Josh Davis and Reid Neureiter

APDA National Champions

2011 Boston University

Boston University

: Greg Meyer and Alex Taubes

2010 Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

: Vivek Suri and Sean Withall

2009 Yale

Yale University

: Andrew Rohrbach and Grant May

2008 Stanford

Stanford University

: Michael Baer and Anish Mitra

2007 Yale

Yale University

: David Denton and Dylan Gadek

2006 Princeton

Princeton University

: Dan Greco and Michael Reilly

2005 Harvard

Harvard University

: Alex Blenkinsopp and Alex Potapov

2004 Harvard

Harvard University

: Marty Roth and Nico Cornell

2003 Yale

Yale University

: Jay Cox and Tim Willenken

2002 Princeton

Princeton University

: Edward Parillon and Yoni Schneller

2001 Yale

Yale University

: Brian Fletcher and Scott Luftglass

2000 Princeton

Princeton University

: Jeremiah Gordon and Matt Schwartz

1999 Columbia

Columbia University

: Carissa Byrne and John Castelly

1998 Harvard

Harvard University

: Eric Albert and Justin Osofsky

1997 Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

: Rebecca Justice and David Weiner

1996 UPenn

University of Pennsylvania

: Liz Rogers and Peter Stris

1995 Swarthmore

Swarthmore College

: Jeremy Mallory and Neal Potischman

1994 Swarthmore

Swarthmore College

: Dave Carney and Neal Potischman

1993 Columbia

Columbia University

: Thanos Basdekis and Morty Dubin

1992 Harvard

Harvard University

: Chris Harris and David Kennedy

1991 Princeton

Princeton University

: Robert Ewing and Christopher Ray

1990 Wesleyan

Wesleyan University

: Andrew Borsanyi and Joel Potischman

1989 Harvard

Harvard University

: Nick Alpers and Pat Bannon

1988 Brown

Brown University

: Aaron Belkin and Jason Grumet

1987 Swarthmore

Swarthmore College

: Josh Davis and Reid Neureiter

1986 Harvard

Harvard University

: Ben Alpers and Michael C. Dorf

Michael C. Dorf

Michael C. Dorf is an American law professor and a noted U.S. constitutional law scholar. He is currently a Professor of Law at Cornell Law School. In addition to constitutional law, Professor Dorf has taught courses in civil procedure and federal courts...

1985 Brown

Brown University

: Martha Hirschfield and Tim Moore

1984 United States Naval Academy

United States Naval Academy

The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...

: Chuck Fish and Marshall Parsons

1983 Harvard

Harvard University

: Neil Buchanan and Doug Curtis

1982 Princeton

Princeton University

: Robert Gilbert and Richard Sommer

1981 Amherst

Amherst College

Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...

: J.J. Gertler and Tom Massaro

1980 UChicago

University of Chicago

: Lucy Li and Alex Richardson

Evolutionary changes

American parliamentary debate did not begin with APDA. Three circuits operated in the U.S. prior to its creation, in the Northeast, Midwest, and California. The University of Chicago

University of Chicago

tournament was considered the de facto national championship due to its central location and its place as the last tournament on the calendar, and was selected to host the first APDA Nationals in 1981. APDA started as a way to coordinate tournament schedules among the Northeast schools and to provide a single point of contact for what was then a close working relationship with CUSID.

Tournaments were either five or six rounds, and the length of speeches slightly different from today, at 8, 8, 8, 12, and 4 minutes. The 12-minute speech by the Opposition could be divided into 8 and 4, in which case the Leader of the Opposition took the Opposition's first 8-minute speech, the Member of the Opposition the second 8, and the leader finished with 4 minutes of pure rebuttal. The decision on whether to split was tactical, as a strong 12-minute speech could be hard for the Prime Minister to rebut in 4, but a poor one could be disastrous. Often, the decision to split was made after the Prime Minister's opening speech, when the Opposition had some notion of the strength of the Government case.

Pre- and early-APDA debate style was much closer to CUSID style, with the government required to debate the resolution provided by the tournament organizers. Teams could be creative in using alternative or pun-based definitions for common words used in the original resolution. This was what was originally meant by "squirreling" the resolution. A government could choose to debate "The U.S. should pull out" seriously by defining what the U.S. should pull out of—a foreign entanglement or the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

, for example. It could be squirreled by choosing an uncommon phrase abbreviated U.S. -- the "usual seatbelt" would make it a case against airbag

Airbag

An Airbag is a vehicle safety device. It is an occupant restraint consisting of a flexible envelope designed to inflate rapidly during an automobile collision, to prevent occupants from striking interior objects such as the steering wheel or a window...

s or other passive restraint systems in cars. Further value was placed on analyzing the underlying core assumptions of a case; in the "usual seatbelt" example, the assumption was that safety should be an individual's personal choice rather than mandated by government. The best teams were able to argue both the specific case and the general philosophical point. Cases that seemed to be prepared in advance and linked awkwardly to the resolution were strongly discouraged, and judges were trained to deduct points accordingly.

By about 1987, several factors had led debates to cease relating directly to the resolutions. Among these were APDA's increasing popularity with debaters accustomed to high school on-topic (NFL

National Forensic League

The National Forensic League is a non-partisan, non-profit educational honor society established to encourage and motivate American high school students to participate in and become proficient in the forensic arts: debate, public speaking and interpretation. NFL is the America's oldest and largest...

or CEDA) formats, a notable incidence of poorly-written resolutions that were hard to debate even when squirreled, and the fact that at many schools, the supply of judges willing to sit through training sessions on the fine points of parliamentary style was not sufficient for increasingly larger tournaments. The result was a rise in prepared cases, a greater emphasis on policy prescriptions and specifics, less-strict adherence to the rules and customs of Parliament, and less opportunity for broad philosophical debate.

While the content of debate rounds has changed significantly, the spirit of today's APDA tournaments is very similar to the original ones, as friendly rivals renew acquaintance every week during the season.

Member organizations

Pennsylvania Parli http://www.dolphin.upenn.edu/debate/index.html
Yale Debate Association
Yale Debate Association
The Yale Debate Association is Yale University's only competitive intercollegiate debate team. Founded in 1908, it is the most prolific winner of the American Parliamentary Debate Association's Club of the Year award. The YDA was also the first American team to win and have the top speaker at the...

http://www.yaledebate.org
Stanford Debate Society http://www.stanford.edu/group/debate/
Columbia Parliamentary Debate Team http://www.columbiadebate.org/
Fordham Debate Society http://www.fordhamdebatesociety.org
Chicago Debate Society http://debate.uchicago.edu/
Amos J. Peaslee Debate Society http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/org/debate
Brandeis Academic Debate And Speech Society (BADASS) http://people.brandeis.edu/~debatetm/
Brown Debating Union
Brown Debating Union
The Brown Debating Union is a student-run debating organization at Brown University in Providence, RI. It has existed since 1824 and its many members include CNN founder Ted Turner, who was a vice-president of the Union. It began to organize formal debate tournaments with peer institutions, as...
Johns Hopkins Woodrow Wilson Debate Council http://www.jhu.edu/~debate/
Maryland Parliamentary Debate Society
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...

http://www.studentorg.umd.edu/debate/
MIT Debate Team http://web.mit.edu/debate/www/
Dartmouth College Parliamentary Debate Team http://www.dartmouth.edu/~parli
Harvard Speech and Parliamentary Debate Society
Harvard Speech and Parliamentary Debate Society
The Harvard Speech and Parliamentary Debate Society is Harvard University's premier competitive debate society. As the winner of the most American Parliamentary Debate Association National Championships of any college and the 2009 and 2010 finalists at the World Universities Debating...
Boston University Debate Society http://people.bu.edu/budebate
New York University Parliamentary Debaters' Union
Tufts University Debate Society
United States Military Academy Speech Team http://www.dean.usma.edu/departments/law/Army%20Forensics/index.htm
Smith College Debate Society http://sophia.smith.edu/debate/
Bates Brooks-Quimby Debate Council http://batesdebate.org
Vassar Debate Society
Rutgers University Debate Union
Rutgers University Debate Union
The Rutgers University Debate Union is Rutgers University's intercollegiate debate team. Re-founded in 2001, its roots extend back to the 1700s and the King's-Queen's Debates with Columbia University when Rutgers was known under its founding name of Queen's College...

http://debate.rutgers.edu
Washington University in St. Louis Debate Team http://su.wustl.edu/directory/1474
American University Debate Society http://audebate.org
Virginia Tech Debate http://www.debate.org.vt.edu

External links

Recordings
- Parlidebate.com - Video and audio recordings of APDA, BP, CUSID and NPDA debate rounds.

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