Advances a justification for instituting limited rules governing the conduct of debates. Contends that declining participation calls for establishing rules designed to minimize the abusive debate policy practices presently affecting policy debate. Refutes D. A. Herbeck and J. P. Katsulas's position on the supposed educational dangers of the debate…

States that the American Debate Association is committed to rulemaking as a mechanism to control the excesses which have contributed to the decline of policy debate. Explains the advantages of a rule-based approach. Outlines and justifies current rules. (PRA)

Proposes that individual forensic events, particularly after dinner speaking, should be modeled after real-world situations. Explores two analogues (comedy clubs and political humor arenas like the Gridiron Club) which could improve the quality of the after dinner speaking events by offering students illuminating principles and practical…

Argues that current forensics contest constraints deemphasize the role of the audience. Examines Barbara Bush's 1990 commencement address at Wellesley College as an example of rhetorical sensitivity and acute awareness of her audience. (SR)

Expresses the author's hope and expectation that there has been great improvement in diversity of the debate circuit since he was a debater nearly 30 years ago. Discusses lessons he learned in debate that have mattered, and have not mattered, in his career as a lawyer and professor. (SG)

States that Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam relied heavily upon debate as a form of public address through which to enact and publicize confrontation with other civil rights organizations. Examines Malcolm X's first experience and training in debate as a prison inmate and later public experiences. Provides detailed accounts and analysis of his…

Presents demographics about gender and ethnicity of debate directors, debate coaches, and debaters in the Cross Examination Debate Association's National Tournament from 1991-2000. Considers that although there has been an increase in the numbers of females and minorities debating, there has also been a decline in the numbers of females directing…

Explores the promises and pitfalls of primary research, public debate, debate outreach, and public advocacy as specific modes of debate activism designed to cultivate argumentative agency and bring argumentation skills to bear in wider spheres of public deliberation beyond the academy. (CR)

Examines three non-deliberate models which reinscribe the suppression of indifference of the bourgeois public sphere in public deliberation. Explains the primary implication has been the construction of separate realms of public and private and particular discourse forms for each realm. Asserts that ends eventually must be determined by…

Discusses research evidence concerning the persuasive effects of three variations in the articulation of an advocate's supporting argumentation. Finds that greater explicitness in identification of the sources of information and in the completeness of an argument significantly enhance persuasive effectiveness and perceived credibility; greater…