Team LZW

William Li-Raymond Zhao-Brian Wang

<December 6> SBDL Tournament @ <Stratford SJ>

Summary

Speaker
1

<Democracy is not the best form of Government >

Proposition
Opposition
1 The majority saying is emphasized
1 Expresses peoples opinion
while the minority is undermined.
2 Protects individual rights
2 People know what they want
3
3 Protects peoples rights
Law making is careful
and
scrutinized

Speaker
2

Speaker
3

4 US founded on principles of
Republic, not Democracy
5 Republics have been incredibly
successful
6

4 Democracy grants voice to all people

5 Democracies have worked in other places
6

Refute all opponents points & summarize with impact statements why
proposition/opposition wins the debate

<Democracy is not the best form of government>

Prop/Opp A Assertion
R Reasoning
E Evidence
Source
Counter
Ref#
Intro Winston Churchill once said Many forms of government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends
that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other
forms that have been tried from time to time.
DEFINITIONS: Democracy: form of government where people choose their own government and the voice of the majority rules. Once the
majority is established, the minority has no say. Republic : voice of the majority that rules through chosen representatives, however
there is a charter or constitution of basic rights that protects the minority from being completely unrepresented or overridden.
Prop Majority is
An unrestricted democracy
According to an article written by
http://listverse.com/2
1
emphasized while
means that the majority decidesHarvard University, Democracies
013/06/16/10the minority is
over the minority. That is
grossly underrepresent minorities, reasons-whyundermined
basically what democracy is. This
while the majority takes over the
democracy-doesntmeans that all the minority's
government.
work/
says are powerless. Even when
http://isites.harvard.e
democracies put up a system of
du/fs/docs/icb.topic92
check and balances to make sure
5740.files/Week
that this does not happen, it is
%208/Negretto_Minor
based upon separation of the
ity.pdf
State's powers. This just makes
the democracy less democratic,
because it takes away the
people's power even more.
Prop Protects individual
In a democracy, there are no
Its stated in our definition. A
2
rights
individual rights. Everything is democracy provides no
determined by majority vote.
constitution to protect rights.
There is no way to receive and
protect individual rights. Only in
a Republic is there an established
constitution to protect the
minority.
Prop
Law making is an incredibly
According to a document
http://thomas.loc.gov/
Law
making
is
3
careful and scrutinized process. compiled by the Library of
home/lawsmade.toc.h
careful
and Congress has to parse each bill Congress, they list all the steps
tml
through an incredibly
required to pass a bill. Its
scrutinized
complicated set of steps in orderincredibly complicated and there
to pass it, each of which requiresare too many steps to list. Only
a three fourths majority vote. 9% of bills submitted are even
ever CONSIDERED by congress.

<Democracy is not the best form of government>

Prop/Opp A Assertion
R Reasoning
Ref#

E Evidence

Source

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Only roughly 1% of that 9% is

ever passed.

Prop
4

US founded on
principles of
Republic, not
Democracy

Prop
5

Republics have been

incredibly successful

US founded on republic
In the strictest sense of the word,
principles. Weve denied our
the system of government
roots and devolved to
established by the Constitution
suppressing minority. (Reflect onwas never intended to be a
previous points) The United
"democracy." This is evident not
States is, indeed, a republic, not only in the wording of the Pledge
a democracy. Accurately defined,of Allegiance but in the
a democracy is a form of
Constitution itself which declares
government in which the peoplethat "The United States shall
decide policy matters directly-- guarantee to every State in this
through town hall meetings or byUnion a Republican Form of
voting on ballot initiatives and Government" (Article IV, Section
referendums. A republic, on the 4). Moreover, the scheme of
other hand, is a system in whichrepresentation and the various
the people choose
mechanisms for selecting
representatives who, in turn,
representatives established by
make policy decisions on their the Constitution were clearly
behalf. The Framers of the
intended to produce a republic,
Constitution were altogether
not a democracy.
fearful of pure democracy.
Everything they read and studied
taught them that pure
democracies "have ever been
spectacles of turbulence and
contention; have ever been
found incompatible with personal
security or the rights of property;
and have in general been as
short in their lives as they have
been violent in their deaths"
(Federalist No. 10).
China has been an economic
In a list compiled by the
powerhouse since its transition to
International Monetary Fund (IMF),

Constitution\http://w
ww.thisnation.com/qu
estion/011.html

http://www.imf.org/ex
ternal/country/index.

<Democracy is not the best form of government>

Prop/Opp A Assertion
R Reasoning
E Evidence
Ref#
a Republic in 1949. Dont even many of the worlds leading
mention the United States, the economies are democracies. Even
most powerful Nation In the
when taking into account the
world. Switzerland and the
huge debt that the EU has
Netherlands are also booming incurred, many of the Republics
economies. Republics are
were very low in the debt
dominating the world scene and spectrum.
theres an obvious reason why.
Rebu *IF WE ARGUE
Now judge, we have no
tal
PROP*
refutation. Before you draw your
ballot for the Opposition team,
consider this. A ________ and a
Republic are one in the same.
EXCEPT for the fact that a
Republic has a constitution or a
charter to protect citizens rights.
Everything they have been
saying has been supporting us, if
you think of it. The essential
characteristcs are the EXACTLY
THE SAME. They have only
further STRENGTHENED our case.
I know right? Now, I will end the
debate by weighing the impacts.
Judge, imagine a world free of
corruption, a world where one is
free to express, to create, to
vote. This is the Propositions
world. On the opposite spectrum,
however, is the Opposition: a
world of corruption, no rights,
and the governments boot on
your neck. Is this really the world
you want to live in? Exactly. Who
ever knew a constitution t
protecting our rights would make
such a difference? This is why

Source

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htm

<Democracy is not the best form of government>

Prop/Opp A Assertion
R Reasoning
E Evidence
Source
Counter
Ref#
we, and you should too, believe
that the Opposition has clearly
won the debate.
Prop
7
Prop
8
Intro: Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just
have to sit on their blisters.
Abraham Lincoln *IF NEEDED* Refute definition: Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens are meant to participate
equally either directly or, through elected representatives, indirectly in the proposal, development and establishment of the laws by which
their society is run
Opp
Expresses peoples
Democracies votes are based Majority means the MOST OF
1
opinion
chiefly on the opinions of the
AMOUNT OF PEOPLE. This means
people. In other, the very
that the most amounts of people
foundation of a democracy is
will get their voice expressed.
that the majority shall decide
what is best for the people.
Opp
People know what
Since voting is not forced, when
2
they want
a citizen goes to vote, they have
a very clear idea of what they
want. The citizens know what
they want. Even if theyre being
represented indirectly by some
delegate, they clearly VOTED
FOR THE DELEGATE, which
means that they felt the delegate
had the ability and the chops to
be able to decide the best for the
people.
Opp
Protects peoples
A Democracy allows a very
3
rights
utilitarian aspect to government.
This allows for balancing out
overall happiness with the
disgruntled voters that did not
receive their say. Speaking of
rights, in a democracy, one is not
limited by an overarching,

<Democracy is not the best form of government>

Prop/Opp A Assertion
R Reasoning
E Evidence
Ref#
totalitarian regime. People have
liberal rights, freedom of
association, freedom and right to
habeus corpus. This is why
democracies are the optimal way
to go. It is stated in the United
States constitution and citizen
handbook. They all the rights of a
citizen, which we have happened
to mention above.
Opp
Democracy grants
No matter who you are, where
4
voice to all people
you are, as long as you are a
citizen, youre eligible to vote.
This allows the government to,
again, gain the true voice of the
American people.
Opp
Democracies have
Judge, I believe youve heard of In a list compiled by the
5
worked in other
the United States? The most
International Monetary Fund (IMF),
places
powerful nation in the world bothmany of the worlds leading
politically and economically?
economies are democracies. Even
What about Norway? And
when taking into account the
Sweden? And Finland? The most huge debt that the EU has
economically and politically
incurred, many of the Republics
states in the EU? They all have were very low in the debt
one thing in common. Thats
spectrum. A stable economy is a
right. Theyre all democracies very good predictor of overall
political stability as well, since an
economy would not be able run
well at all with a poor
government, and we all know
stable governments and stable
economies equal happiness of
citizens.
Rebu IMPACT --
Now, I will end the debate by
ttal.
weighing the impacts. Judge,
imagine a world free of
corruption, a world where one is
free to express, to create, to

Source

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<Democracy is not the best form of government>

Prop/Opp A Assertion
R Reasoning
E Evidence
Ref#
vote. This is the Oppositions
world. On the opposite spectrum,
however, is the Proposition: a
world of corruption, no rights,
and the governments boot on
your neck. Is this really the world
you want to live in? Exactly. This
is why we, and you should too,
believe that the Opposition has
clearly won the debate.
Opp
7
Opp
8

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