Monday, February 20, 2012

Flow Sheet for: THB Korean should allow presidential re-election.

This was a decent way to start the year, and I was impressed with the teamwork and execution, both before and after the debate.  I expect the same level next week, and MUCH MORE enthusiasm than was displayed in class this morning (Tuesday).  This is a small class, and there is ample opportunity to contribute at least some discussion towards a potential debate.  Asking your input should not be a chore, and if it continues to be I will simply decide what you will debate ahead of time, whether you like it or not (boring motions that require research outside of class, therefor interrupting your more important tasks that you should not be doing during this class) .  If "class discussion" fails, you'll have to debate every class.  Please do not use this class for sleep, self-study, or staring off into space. It is impolite in a large class. Rude in a smaller sized class.: )

MOTION: THB: Korea should allow presidential re-election.
Date:2/14/12

GOVERNMENT (WINNER)

OPPOSITION
Introduction
Pts
Young Il

Inseong

Delivery
8.5
/10
Good. More energy would be good but was articulate, flowing, easy to follow.  Arguments could be signposted a little more clearly, as I wasn’t always sure we were on the same argument.  A bit clearer with roadmap in the future, but good start to the debate.
6.5
/10
Maybe start with a preamble and creative intro, and cover your arguments before rebuttals? Once you got into your arguments you were on better ground.  Good effort and decent work given the circumstances of being rusty/first speaker.  Steady improvement anticipated.

Arguments
8.7
/10
Roh brought this up, it was rejected as it was a “political strategy” for power. However -  it should be discussed.  Define terms – reeclection – repeatedbly for 4 years.  Elections for assembly to match.
Arg 1 – Regultes presidents – prevents them doing whatever they want.  Only one term means they are “lame ducks.” Opp might say that’s inevitable due to low popularity.  But that’s persay.
Policies will be more effectively implemented. Congress won’t neglect the standing president.
Beuocracy would be cut down.
Arg 2 – Regulation.  Prevent them from doing whatever they want in first term. Myungbak for example – 4 River project, domination of media, FTAs.  All forced through without thought of reelection. POI – Rahcel – populism would result??  Response – Myungbak doesn’t care about the poor.  Populism is okay and needed. (GOOD from both sides). 
Better interation with citizens. 
7.0
/10
Ineffectiveness Rebuttal. Intros of three rebuttals. 

First – effectively allow ideas of presidents? Why do need this efficiency? Also, in politics we need to think of other things.  Second point – presidents will be regulated, but it is not relevant to this reelection – it doesn’t mean they can’t do whatever they want. 
First argument – this relection does not stand – Korea has only been a democracy for 20 years.  4 presidents in this era.  We are too young to adopt this policy, Negative consequences of the military styled leadership.  Parties etc. are not “lame ducks,”
Second Argument – this relection would result in ‘populism” when presidents do irrational things and adopt policies just to secure support.  If we have this process of reelection it will resut more POI Ryan – 4 River plan – wouldn’t it allow public opinion?  Response: No. 
For example, George Bush – said he wouldn’t raise taxes. BUT he did. Obama is doing this as well -

Notes
Tot
17.3
/20
7:47
Tot
13.5
/20
7:50

Rebuttal One
Pts
Joowon
Pts
Changwoo

Delivery
8.9
/10
Good. I’d like to see more preamble. But nice presentation of fact with a nice calm approach.  Firm but not flaming.  
9.0
/10
 Good stuff and great job of adding to the arguments, getting things organized.  Nice flow and steady development. All in all, impressive demeanor. 

Arguments
9.1
/10
Rubutt – The opp leader questions effectiveness about reelection. We should not question efficiency.  Secondly, the OPP says no relationship between regulating president and reelection. BUT if a policy exists he can be re-elected, they will respond to public opinion more.  OPP team also mentions that our democracy is too young.  But American was the first true democracy, and Washington and Jefferson had long presidency democratically.  OPP failed to rebut our second argument.  No evidence.  They talked about Bush and Obama, but we are talking about Korea, and Lee is establishing poor policies that the public dislikes.

Argument – Roh example.  Nationwide survey during that time showed that people supported this idea of relection AFTER Roh.  So it wasn’t a ploy to keep power. These were in major papers.  POI – Chagwoo – there was a wording problem in these surveys?
Response: Never mind.  Surveys showed what they showed, and most Koreans don’t like this current system.  POI Rachel – are you implying that the public consensus should take precedent??  Response: No. But in this case we have to be “democratic.” Re-election has support.  We should listen to it.
8.9
/10
Rebuttal 1: Gov mentions that reelection can be efficient and improve government. Assembly and presidency at the same time.  Stay the same? Yes. But this prevents new ideas, For example – 4 Rivers, was implanted without any checking. Populism is better than doing nothing? No.  Can be defined as irrational and inefficient policy to gain support – defined as this.  POI’s denied.  (Is that the real definition? I should check).  These surveys they mention – they were worded poorly – to sway the support.  The surveys conducted in the “lame duck” era of Roh.  At the time it was a trend. Is it the trend now? 
Harms – Dictatorship.  This is a real threat.  Coup de’tat by JDH – he said he’d stay for one term, but he didn’t. It wasn’t democratic. It has only been 20 years.  We will have this again.
New Faces – they won’t be able to gain a foothold if we have to stay with one party and one identity.  We need change and adjustment.  Would Ahn Chul Soo be here if we had this? No.  POI – Young Il. 

Notes
Tot
18
/20
6:40
Tot
17.9
/20
7:00

Conc/Rebutt
Pts
Ryan
Pts
Rachel

Delivery
9.1
/10
 Nice delivery with some playful antagonism.  Good volume and flow with definition of clashes. All in all, very strong.
9.2
/10
 Effective and well-structured as usual. Good energy and decent job of making the most out of arguments that could be stronger.  Excellent energy and flow.

Arguments
9.1
/10
Summarize – why our side wins: They criticize the status quo. There is no right answer, but there is a better one. Nice. 
National Assembly etc. arguments and 4 River etc. is not applicable because they ignore evidence that this is what Korea wants.  Effectiveness and the lame duck – this is real.  US examples – the greatest presidents were there when the nation was young, and allowed to continue.  Regulations – Lee would not strong arm his policies if he had to face reelection.  Populism does not stand in this case.  It already exists.  Lee didn’t do what he said he would and did have populist policies.  With or without this policy.  Poll evidence shows that this is what people.  These polls were not a scam.  Evidence? What do people think now?   
8.9
/10
At the start, the primeminester said he woulnd’t do what he did, so the burden of proof is failed. Define clashes.  Gov says we have been critics.  So what?  That’s our job.  They had to prove the benfits and practicality. They didn’t.  Is it going to work?

Harms – Presidents will work harder.  God lame duck? No.  They said good lame ducks? (I’m not sure). 
Easy and effective implemented – short cut to effective policies.  We say dictatorship will result.  Thirdly – other things we have to think about. We must regard populism.  Appealing to voters is populism and achieves nothing.  Efficiency and populism don’t mix.  PM is redundant in this argument.

Notes
Tot
18.2
/20
 5:00
Tot
18.1
/20
 5:00

Monday, February 6, 2012

First Class

Good to have you all back - some from writing, some from Junior Debate.  So basically we will do the same as last year, but with more focus on discussion. I won't push you as hard to do "Critical Responses," but I'd be happy to see you express your opinions in writing from time to time on your blogs.  What you take away from this class is up to you, now that you are sagacious Seniors.;)


Next class, our motion is as follows:

THB: Korea should allow presidential re-election.
 

I like this one. I hope you guys are able to come up with some historical examples for the sake of argument, and I think it's an interesting debate from both the Opp and Gov stand-point.  It never hurts to post some stuff on your blog to assist everyone in coming up with arguments. 

Opposition:  Rachel, Inseong, Changwoo
Government: Joowon, Youngil, Byungwoo

How we arrived at this motion:

Discussion about Ahn as a potential candidate in Korea, and Ron Paul as a potential candidate in America.  Since American politics has a huge impact on the world, we should definitely follow it a bit more closely.  Reading up on Ron Paul is a fun place to start, and we can put him in the same boat as Ahn Chulsoo for many reasons.  He's the most interesting candidate in this election, but probably won't get much support because he's simply a little bit "out there," positioned oddly as a Republican.  We watched the following videos:


Senior Debate

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