Art, Argument and Advocacy: Mastering Parliamentary Debate.

• Author: Southard, Bjorn Stillion
• Position: Book Review

By John Meany and Kate Schuster. New York: IDEA, 2002; pp. 382. $25.95.

Meany and Schuster's discussion on parliamentary debate, both American and British forms, ranges from the role of each speaking position to the use of critiques and counterplans as an opposition strategy. Meany and Schuster write, "We have included all of the basic elements of public speaking, critical thinking, critical listening, and research skills for new debaters" (6). Because of the comprehensive nature of Art, Argument and Advocacy, this book has a variety of audiences.

The first group Meany and Schuster accommodate is beginning debaters. Chapter one systematically describes the format (speaker order, times for speeches, the title of each speaker) for American and British parliamentary debate. Also included in the first chapter is discussion of the roles of the speakers. This information proves especially helpful to new debaters or debaters who are experienced in one format but are attempting another (such as Americans who attend the World University Debating Championship but have never participated in a British style debate).

Meany and Schuster also offer numerous resources for the new or experienced debater. Appendix 1 contains a list of sample topics arranged by subject. Appendix 2 consists of a sample debate ballot from both British and American formats, a sample tournament calendar, debate support websites, argument support websites, and reference sites. This information, although extraneous in places and likely to become dated in the near future, familiarizes a new debater with many aspects of competitive debate as possible thereby potentially relieving anxiety associated with new experiences.

Appendix 3 may be the most useful resource in the text. Meany and Schuster list and define terms related to debate. Such explanation proves helpful to new debaters on two levels: l) Certain terms specific to parliamentary debate (or even more, terms specific to British and American style parliamentary debate) are defined and 2) Terms from different formats of debate, such as Lincoln-Douglas and Policy, often find their way into parliamentary debate. While explaining the definitions of technical "jargon," Meany and Schuster offer this provision: "Jargon is not meant to substitute for elegant rhetoric in parliamentary debate" (7). The issue of jargon is a contentious issue in American parliamentary debate, as some believe that parliamentary debate is a public form of...