ManchesterEUDCjudgesbriefing Dearfuturejudge! Youveclickedonthislinkbecauseyouareseriouslyconsidering spendingaweeksittinginuncomfortablechairslisteningto humanbeingsargueaboutbigthings.Readingthisbriefisthe firstjudgythingwewouldlikeyoutodo.Itisnotlong,we promise. Belowweoutlineourviewsonthepartsofourlovelysport governedbybroadconsensusandCAteamdiscretion.Broadly,weagreewiththe standingconsensusonjudgingasitpertainstointernationalBPcompetitions.Insome cases,wehaveclarifiedambiguitiesinthefolkwisdom.Wehavemadeasmall modificationtotherulesgoverningpointsofinformation,toreflectthechangingwaysthat thegameofdebatingisplayed. Thebasics Thereisnosuchthingasanautomaticwinoranautomaticloss.

Debateisaboutpersuasion.Teamsattempttopersuadethepanelthattheirsideofthe debateisright,throughcasescomposedofargumentsfororagainstthemotion.Judges (you)assesswhoseemedtoadvancethebestreasonsfortheirsideofthemotion,asit happenedinthisparticulardebate.Theydothisastheordinaryintelligentvoter,applying averysmallsetoftechnicalrules,whicharetheretofacilitate,notdisplace,logical argument. Therearesixrulesatthistournament: 1. Whospeakswhen 2. Thatnewmatterisnotallowedinsummaryspeeches 3. Thatteamsmustprepbythemselves,incommunicationwithnooneandwithoutthe useofofelectronicresources. 4. ThateachspeakercanofferPOIsandmusttakeone 5. Whatconstitutesanacceptabledefinition 6. Thatclosingteamsshould(ingeneral)notcontradicttheiropeningteams

Rules1,2,and3willbecoveredinthenovicebriefing.Wediscuss4,5,and6further down.Ifyouthinkotherthingsarerulesyouaremistaken. Ruleno.4 POIsareofferedbystandingduringaspeechgivenbyaspeakerontheothersideofthe debate,andsaying,Onthatpoint,Pointofinformation,orsomevariantthereof.When offeringaPOI,debatersshouldnotuselanguagethatconveys,evenpartially,thecontentof theirPOI.Thereisoneexception:DebatersmayprefaceaPOIwithpointofclarification, toconveythattheywishtoaskaclarificatoryquestionabouttheotherteams definition/policy/alternative. OnceaPOIisaccepted,theofferingspeakerhas15secondsinwhichtomaketheirpoint. Speakersholdingthefloorshouldnotseek,bywordorgesture,tocutshortaPOIbefore 15secondsareup.IfaspeakerholdingthefloorcutsshortaPOI,pleaseintervene andpermittheofferingspeakertofinishspeaking. POIsaretheretofacilitateengagementbetweenteams.Ifaspeakerisgivenarangeof opportunitiestotakeaPOIandtakesnone,thisisabreachoftherules.AtEUDC2013, werequirespeakerstotakeatleastonePOIperspeech. Ifthespeakerholdingthefloorhasn't(yet)takenaPOIanyteamthathasofferedatleast onePOIbeforethefiveminutemarkmayofferPOIsatthesixminutemark.The speakerholdingtheflooristhenobligedtoacceptatleastonesuchPOI.(Ifateamthat doesnotfulfillthiscriterionoffersaPOIatthesixminutemark,thechairand/ortimekeeper shouldinformthemthattheyare"outoforder".)Thisisaruleofdebating,justliketherules thatspecifytheorderinwhichspeaker'sspeak.IfaspeakertakesnoPOIs,butdoes notviolatethisrule,theyshouldnotfaceanypenalties.IfaspeakerisofferedaPOI inthesecircumstances,andrefuses,thechairshouldinterveneandremindthemtotake one.Iftheystillrefuse,theyarecheating. Ruleno.5 Adefinitionshouldspecifythemeaningsofwordsinamotioninawaythataccordswitha commonsensereadingofthemotion.Definitionsareallowedtoexcludepathological cases,wherethedebateinvolvesverydifferentprinciples.However,definitionsmust includethevastmajorityofinstances.Ingeneral,definitionsshouldbeagoodfaith attempttocreateadebate.(Ofcourse,thatsnotanexcuseforwellmeaningteamsto givehorribledefinitions.)Teamsshouldalsoavoidbuildingargumentsintothedefinition.

Forexample:OnthemotionthatTHWlegaliserecreationaldrugsthegovernmentcansay butnotforchildren,whiletheycannotsaybutnotforunemployedpeople. Ruleno.6 Teamsareexpectedtopresentacoherentcasefortheirside.Consequently,closing teamsshouldavoidmakingclaimsthatcontradictordirectlyunderminetheassertions madebytheopeningteamontheirside.Ifaclosingteammakessuchaclaim,thenjudges shoulddiscountthatclaim,andanyargumentsthatrelycruciallyuponthatclaim.Thereare, however,someexceptions.Suchclaimsshouldbecreditedif: 1. Theoriginalclaimwasaplainlyfalseclaimaboutsomeempiricalmatteroffact. 2. Theoriginalclaimmadetheirsideobviouslyunwinnable,evenintheabsenceofany rebuttal. 3. Theoriginalclaimwasalsocontradictedbyaspeakerintheopeningteam. Ontypesofmotions Somedebatersandjudgesrelyonadistinctionbetweenpolicyandanalysisdebates. Werecognisethatdifferentpeoplearegoingtodrawdifferentlinesseparatingonefrom theother. 1. AtManchesterEUDC,mostdebateswillrequiredebaterstoargueinfavourofor againstapolicy.ThegoaloftheGovteamsistopersuadethejudgesthatthe policyshould,allthingsconsidered,beenacted.ThegoaloftheOppteamsisto persuadethejudgesthatthepolicyshould,allthingsconsidered,notbeenacted. 2. Somedebateswillinsteadrequireteamstoargueaboutthetruthorfalsehoodofa statement,oraboutwhethertheyshouldendorseagivenattitude(applaud, condemn,support,etc). Toavoidconfusion,alldebatesofthelatterkindwillbemarkedbyanasteriskatthe endofthemotion. Onstyle Manner(style)isanimportantmechanismforpersuasion,butitisnotaseparatecriterion forjudgingyourdebates.Consequently,therearetwothingstonote:First,therearemany acceptableformsofmanner.Judges(you)shouldbeopentounfamiliarformsofstyleand becarefulnottoprivilegecertainformsofmannerwhichdonotcontributetotheargument (merepackaging). Second,mannershouldnotbecountedseparately.Neversay(orthink)Thisisabadidea,

butthegovernmentteamsoundednice,soIllvoteforthem.Goodmannercontributesto persuasionbyensuringthatlogicalandrelevantmaterialispresentedclearlyand effectively.Ifyoucannoticethatanargumentwasbad,butthespeakerhadgoodstyle, thenthatspeakerdidnothavegoodstyle.Pleasejudgetheteamsandindeedallyour debatesholistically. Wedalsolikeyoutoguardagainstregardingaspeakerasmorecrediblejustbecause theyspeakfluently.Thereisexperimentalevidenceindicatingastrongsubconsciousbias infavourofnativeEnglishspeakersthesamesentencespokeninanonnativeaccentis lesslikelytobebelieved.(http://psychology.uchicago.edu/people/faculty/LevAriKeysar.pdf) Onordinaryintelligentvoters Pleasenote,thatthisidealpersonisusedtodetermineastandardofknowledge,not intelligence.Judges(you)arenotrequiredtoactlessintelligentwhenjudging,butare requiredtothinkcriticallyaboutwhatwaswellexplained,vs.whatyouhappentoknow about.Theordinaryintelligentvoterisfromnowhere.Shedoesnthavedetailedlocal knowledgeandshewontunderstandcommonexamplesfromyourcircuit.Sheisnota specialistandthereforeignoresjargonandtechnicaltalkthatisunexplained.Shehasthe levelofknowledgethatwouldbeexpectedofsomeonewhoreadsareputable internationalnewspaperonceaweek(withoutattemptingtomemoriseits contents). Sheevaluatesargumentscriticallyandisactuallyopentopersuasion.Insofaras possible,sheadoptsaneutral,openmindedperspective,asthoughshedidnothave strongpriorconvictionsastowhichsideofthemotioniscorrect. Avoidcommonjudgingpitfallsand donotinvent,completeorrebutarguments donotconsiderhoweasilyyoucouldhavemadeorrespondedtoanargument donotuseproxiesforpersuasiveness(numbers,clevernessandnoveltyof argumentsareallirrelevantinthemselves) donotinventcriteriaforgoodpolicies(criteriaforwhatmakesagoodpolicyare debateabledonotuseyourownifanyareadvancedinthedebate) Onrolefulfilment Therearenorulesspecifyingelaboraterolesthatteamshavetofulfil.Whatwecallrole fulfilmentisjustasetofrulesofthumbaboutgoodwaystodebate.Openingteamssetout apolicy(oralternative)becauseitsveryunpersuasivetobevagueaboutwhatyoustand

for.Closingteamsproduceextensionsbecauseitspersuasivetooffernewreasonsfor yoursideofthemotion.Teamsengagewithoneanotherbecauseitsunpersuasiveto leavegoodargumentsunanswered.Seektoassessthedegreetowhichateamhas persuadedyouthattheirsideisright.Pleasedontrewardorpenaliseteamsongroundsof rolefulfilmentaboveandbeyondthis. Onchairingandwinging Pleaserememberthisisdebate,notwar.Also,rememberthatthediscussionafterthe debateisnottheretodeterminewhichofthejudgesgottherightcallontheirfirsttry.The chairsroleistoguidethepaneltoaconsensusdecision.Youarealltryingtofigure outwhathappenedandjudgethedebateaccordingly.Alljudgesshouldparticipate activelyinthediscussion.Disagreementishealthyaslongasitiscollegialandaimedat genuinelymovingthediscussionforward.Ifitisnotpossibletoreachaconsensus,andthe timeisup,pleasevoteonanyunresolvedpartsoftheteamranking,withthechairhaving thecastingvote. Youareawesome! Thankyouforreadingthis.Ifyouhavepressingquestions,pleaseemailusat adjudication@manchestereuros.eu.Whatyoushouldtakefromthisdocumentistojudge thedebateholistically,useyourcommonsenseandbetterjudgementtosolvehardcases. Followtherules,bekind,andpayattention.

Muchlove YourCAteam