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Section 1002: LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE (2008-2009 Constitution)
(a) PURPOSE OF THE CONTEST. Lincoln-Douglas debate provides excellent training for development of skills in argumentation, persuasion, research, and audience analysis. Through this contest, students are encouraged to develop a direct and communicative style of oral delivery. Lincoln-Douglas debate is a one-on-one argumentation in which debaters attempt to convince the judge of the acceptability of their side of a proposition. One debater shall argue the affirmative side of the resolution, and one debater shall argue the negative side of the resolution in a given round.
(b) ENTRIES.
(1) Representation. The debates shall be conducted in one division in each conference. In all conferences, a school may enter three individuals in its district meet.
(2) Eligibility. Each debater entered must be eligible under Subchapter M. The student may not enter more than two speech events; and when entered in Lincoln-Douglas, the second speech event may not be team debate, prose or poetry. See Section 1000.
(3) Substitutions. Substitutions shall not be allowed after the district meet. During the district meet, substitutions shall not be allowed after a given tournament has begun.
(4) Failure to Compete at District. Disqualification from the Lincoln-Douglas Debate Contest for the current academic year may result if an academic coach fails to notify the district contest director, in a timely manner prior to the meet, that a debater will not compete and such may be grounds for suspension from Lincoln-Douglas debate for the following year.
(5) Alternates. When a debater who qualified for the next higher meet cannot participate in the next higher meet, the alternate should be notified. A coach or designee who fails to notify the regional and/or state contest directors that a student will not compete is in violation of the academic Spring Meet Code and the school shall be disqualified from Lincoln-Douglas debate for the current academic competition, and such violations may be grounds for suspension from Lincoln-Douglas debate for the following year.
(c) THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE RESOLUTION.
Two topics for debate, one for fall and one for spring, provided by the League office, will be announced during the course of the school year in the Leaguer and on the UIL web site.
(d) FORMAT AND TIME LIMITATIONS.
Continuous speaking time and order of speeches shall be as follows:
Constructive
Affirmative, six minutes
Cross-examination by negative, three minutes
Negative, seven minutes
Cross-examination by affirmative, three minutes
Rebuttal
Affirmative, four minutes
Negative, six minutes
Affirmative, three minutes
(1) Preparation Time. A maximum of three minutes of preparation time per debater is allowed during the course of the debate.
(2) Overtime. Overtime may count against a team at the discretion of the judge.
(3) Abuse of Time. Excessive abuse of the time allotments may result in disqualification at the discretion of the contest director.
(e) DELIVERY.
Communication with the audience is to be considered a high priority for UIL debaters. Oral delivery in Lincoln-Douglas debate is to be communicative and persuasive.
(f) EVIDENCE.
(1) Use. Supporting evidence adds to the persuasiveness of the reasoning and argumentation of the debate. Whenever a debater quotes at any length the words of another, the fact the evidence is quoted material must be plainly stated.
(2) Availability of Materials. Speakers may use notes if they wish. If charts, maps, books, or other materials are used by any debater, they shall be left before the audience and shall be available for use by the opposing debaters in refutation. Debaters may use laptop computers in the round in accordance with the rules published in the UIL Lincoln-Douglas Debate Handbook and other official UIL publications available through the League office, and on the UIL web site. Coaches are responsible for reviewing these rules in advance of the contest.
(3) Available in Writing on Demand. All participants submitting evidence in competition shall possess and present upon demand of debater such evidence in published print form. The evidence must display full bibliographic source citation, even if the full citation is not orally delivered. Full citation should include the following elements: author’s name, author’s qualifications, complete source information, complete date, and page number. Citations of online publications or from online data bases also require the publication medium (online), the Internet URL, or the name of the computer service, and the date of access. Failure to meet this requirement can, at the discretion of the judge and contest director, result in:
(A) loss of round,
(B) the evidence not being counted in the round, or
(C) the evidence not being given as much weight in the decision of the round.
(4) The contest director shall be empowered with the final decision in questions concerning falsification of evidence. See (i) (7).
(g) CROSS-EXAMINATION PERIOD.
During the questioning period, both opponents stand and face the judge. The questioner should control the use of time during the period and may only ask questions. Questioners may not comment on the answers or make any statements of their own views during the cross-examination period. The purpose of the questioning period is to:
(1) Ask for information to gain clarification and understanding.
(2) Set up strategies to use in developing further argumentation.
(3) Discover fallacies or inconsistencies in opponent’s argumentation.
(h) SCOUTING.
(1) Debates Shall Be Public. Debate, by its very nature, is public. Therefore, all debates in League district, regional, and state competition shall be open to the public, with the exception of debaters competing in that tournament. Competing debaters shall not observe preliminary rounds of district, region, or state competition in which they are not debating.
(2) Notes. With the exception of the final debate in district, regional, and state competition, only the judge and the two student participants shall take notes. For example, anyone may take notes in the debates which determine first and second place, and third and fourth place. See Section 1002 (j) regarding taping and filming.
(3) Sharing of Notes. During a tournament, participants or judges may not give or accept notes taken during that tournament. For example, a judge or a debater participating in the district contest is neither allowed to give nor accept notes regarding any rounds in that tournament from anyone else during that tournament.
(4) Penalty for Debaters. Violation by debaters of the scouting rule is grounds for disqualification of the debater from the current competition. The contest director shall be empowered with the final decision in questions concerning scouting. Such violations may be grounds for suspension of the school from Lincoln-Douglas debate for the following year.
(5) Penalty for Coaches. Violation by coaches of the scouting rule is grounds for disqualification of their debaters from the current competition. Coaches who violate scouting rules will also be subject to the full range of penalties as outlined in Sections 27 and 29, and such violations may be grounds for suspension of the school from Lincoln-Douglas debate for the following year.
(i) TOURNAMENT PROCEDURES.
(1) District Planning Meeting. The contest director is urged to hold a preliminary planning meeting with the Lincoln-Douglas coaches in the district in advance of the organizing date for district contests. Recommendations from this meeting concerning site, judging, tournament format, bracketing, and other contest procedures should be made to the district director. Suggested meeting agenda is located on the UIL web site.
(2) Eliminations.
(A) Debaters should be paired by the tournament director, who should try to prevent, where possible, debaters from the same school, district, or region from meeting except in power-matched preliminary rounds or elimination rounds.
(B) At the district meet, the championship may be decided at the discretion of the district executive committee, by round robin or preliminary rounds leading to an elimination bracket where all undefeated contestants shall be placed into the elimination bracket. All places (first, second, third and fourth) shall be determined. No ties shall be awarded.
(C) At the regional meet, the championship shall be determined by preliminary rounds leading to an elimination bracket where all undefeated contestants shall be placed into the elimination bracket. First, second, third and fourth places shall be determined. No ties shall be awarded.
(D) At the State Meet, the tournament format will be structured to allow for three preliminary rounds for the purpose of seeding for the semifinal round. Those advancing to the semifinal round will be announced after the completion of the third preliminary round. Brackets are not broken at the State Meet. Only first and second place will debate for medals. Both semifinalists will be awarded bronze medals.
(3) Choice of Sides. If possible, each student should debate both the affirmative side and the negative side of the resolution during the course of the meet. For example, in a three-preliminary round tournament each student should debate affirmative one round, negative one round, and then flip a coin or come to a mutual agreement for a third round.
(4) Judges. Judges shall be selected in odd numbers (1, 3, 5) for each debate. Judges should be:
(A) selected on the basis of capability, impartiality and willingness to judge according to UIL standards;
(B) at minimum, be high school graduates;
(C) instructed to sit apart during the debate;
(D) instructed not to discuss their decisions with other individuals or judges while judging a given debate;
(E) provided with adequate instructions for using the judging criteria for Lincoln-Douglas debate in the UIL program; and
(F) instructed to direct questions concerning tournament procedure, or other questions to the contest director.
(i) District. Judges for the district meet shall be chosen by the contest director subject to the approval of the district executive committee.
(ii) Regional. Judges for regional meets shall be selected by the regional Lincoln-Douglas debate contest director.
(iii) State. Judges for the State Meet shall be selected by the state contest director. Any school that qualifies for the State Meet must provide an experienced judge for each debater who qualifies for the state competition, unless excused for a valid reason by the contest director. Schools qualifying more than one debater should contact the State Director immediately following regional competition. State judging forms must be entered online by the first Tuesday following the regional contest. Unless excused for a valid reason by the contest director, schools which advance to elimination rounds must provide an experienced judge for each advancing debater who will be available until dismissed by the contest director. Failure to provide a judge could constitute grounds for forfeiture of the round. The contest director is empowered to determine if forfeiture of a round is necessary.
(iv) Schools Represented Not to be Known by the Judges. Except at State Meet, so far as possible, the judges should not know which school a debater represents. On the ballot, the contestant is to be designated as the affirmative or the negative or by number.
(v) Instructions to the Judge. The contest director is charged with the responsibility of enforcing instructions given on the Lincoln-Douglas debate ballot, and only the most flagrant delinquency in this matter will be considered grounds for question.
(5) Interruptions. The contest director should permit no interruption of a speaker from the audience during a debate. No cheering shall be permitted during the debate.
(6) Timekeeper and Signal Standards. The timekeeper should announce to the debaters prior to the contest the types of time signals to be used. Either time cards, hand signals or automatic timers may be used.
(A) If hand signals or time cards are used, the time remaining should be indicated.
(B) When a speaker uses all of the allotted time, in either the constructive or rebuttal speeches, the timekeeper should so indicate.
(C) A timekeeper is provided for convenience. The primary responsibility for staying within the time limits lies with the debater.
(D) Overtime may count against the debater at the discretion of the judge.
(E) Excessive abuse of the time allotments may result in disqualification at the discretion of the contest director.
(7) Questions.
(A) Questions must be directed to the contest director before the official decision of the judges is announced. The decision of the meet officials in these matters is final. No arguments with the judges will be permitted.
(B) Excessive abuse by either the contestant or the coach shall be reason for disqualification of that school and its contestant for the current competition and may be grounds for suspension for the following year.
(8) Ballot Verification. Unofficial results of those advancing to elimination rounds may be announced prior to ballot verification. Ballots should be returned to contestants or coaches to be checked for possible tabulation errors before official results of those advancing are announced. A student and/or coach not present for the ballot verification period forfeits the opportunity to verify tabulation. Approximately 15 minutes should be allotted for this verification period. This is designed as a time to verify tabulation, not a time to question the decision of the judges.
(9) Official Results. At the end of the ballot verification period, results shall be read as official results. No questions may be raised after this point.
(j) RECORDING. Schools and/or individuals are prohibited from recording (audio and/or video) speech contests. The UIL reserves the right to record for educational purposes.
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