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Introduction to Policy Debate

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This free online textbook is available to all. No log-in is required to view any of the chapters and sections.

Thanks to generous contributions from Bill Smelko, William Smelko, and Rebecca (Gray) Jordan, we have been able to radically expand the available content.

Many adults say that debate was one of the most, if not the most, important educational experiences of their lives.  John Sexton, the President of New York University, has noted that, “Admissions could go to the quarter-final round at any of the top debate tournaments in the country and admit the students that were in that quarter final round. … Put simply, the education the folks are getting in debate, if they're doing it at the highest level, and doing it for the right reasons, is unmatched.”

Studies have shown that debate improves critical thinking skills, enhances reading comprehension, improves note taking skills & research skills, aids in speaking,  boosts information organinization and management abilities, and strengthens vocabulary.  This skill set substantially aids in problem-solving.

Jeff Parcher, former coach of Georgetown University, produced a comprehensive assessment of the available literature.  A number of testimonials from administrators, teachers, and students are also available.

Successful people with debate backgrounds can be found everywhere.  Supreme Court justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito both debated.  Thomas debated in college at Georgetown and Alito debated in high school in New Jersey.  Former President Clinton was a high school debater in Arkansas.

Many of my contemporaries from my college debate days in the early 1990s have gone on to quite amazing careers.  Neal Kaytal (Dartmouth 92) just won a ground-breaking Supreme Court case related to the protection of the rights of Guatanamo Bay detainees.  Neal is a law professor at Georgetown, where he is a colleague of Rebecca Tushnet (Harvard 94).  Neal was assisted in the case by Tom Goldstein (UNC 92), who has successfully tried a number of cases before the Court and teaches Supreme Court litigation at Harvard and Stanford Law schools.  Eun Young Cho (Harvard 2001) also assisted Neal.  Mark Wilson (Dartmouth 95) co-founded Apian Software with his high school debate partner Michael Beckley. Mark and Mike both attribute their business success to their debate experience.

Glen Greenwald (George Washington, 1990) has recently published a best seller – How Would a Patriot Act, and has developed one of the most popular and interesting blogs on the internet.  Glenn is a former litigator in New York City and successfully started his own constitutional law firm.  Most of the research for Glenn’s book was done by four of his blog readers -- an attorney, the president of an information technology company, blogger Dave Johnson, and Dave Harris, “a sophomore at Michigan State University and an assistant coach for Okemos High School’s debate team.”

Wake Forest University is the home to one of the strongest college debate programs.  I coached there as a graduate student from 1994 to 1997.  Many of the debaters I worked with during that time have gone on to interesting careers.  Daveed Gartenstein-Ross (97), National Debate Tournament champion, is a graduate of NYU law school and a full-time terrorism consultant and the author of a forthcoming book on his involvement with inside “radical Islam.” His debate partner, Brian Prestes (97), is a litigator in Washington D.C. John Hughes (96) just finished a clerkship for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.  His former debate partner, Adrienne Brovero (95), is the Debate Coach at Mary Washington College.

Debate not only produces, but also attracts, incredibly intelligent and ambitious individuals who are intrigued by the processes of inquiry, advocacy, invention, and synthesis.

If you are reading this text, you have an incredible opportunity to be a part of an amazing peer group that you may not find any place else. Debate affords you opportunities to travel and interact with some very talented individuals from your city, your state, your region, and throughout the entire nation to compete against some of your most intelligent and motivated peers.  Almost all of the nation's most talented debaters are admited to the very best schools nation-wide.

Regardless of the level of competitive success you achieve in debate, you will always be a part of a community of debaters that will provide you with innumerable opportunities.  One of my assistant coaches last year, Alex Marcoplous, just finished his first year of law school at Tulane.  He was interviewing in New York City at one of the leading law firms in the hopes of developing future job prospects. Debate stood out on Alex’s resume, and one of the interviewers explained that she was a former debater from New Orleans who had won the Lakeland District’s debate tournament a number of years ago.  They spent most of the interview talking about debate, and Alex was called back for a second session.

In the course of developing an incredible skill set, you will have a lot of fun.

Competitive policy debate is an incredibly intense, time consuming, and challenging activity. People who participate in it do it because they enjoy it and, often simply become addicted to the debate learning process.

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