Parliamentary debate combines elements of several types of debate, such as Lincoln-Douglas, with traditional Parliamentary procedure.  A debate consists of two teams, each with two members.  One of the teams is the government team. The government team consists of a Prime Minister (PM) and a Member of Government (MG) They present a case of their choosing.  It is up to the other team, the opposition, to refute their case.  The opposition consists of two members, a Leader of Opposition (LO) and a Member of Opposition (MO).  

The order and times of speeches is as follows:

Prime Minister Constructive - 7 minutes

Leader of Opposition Constructive - 8 minutes

Member of Government Constructive - 8 minutes

Member of Opposition Constructive - 8 minutes

Leader of Opposition Summation - 4 minutes

Prime Minister  Summation - 5 minutes

For a better explanation than I can give, I suggest checking out the APDA page, which explains it better than I ever can.  But like some other things, Parliamentary Debate is hard to describe, but you know it when you see it.  If you are interested in joining Loyola's debate team, I suggest you come to a meeting and see what it's all about.

If you have any questions, you can email us.