The Lincoln-Douglas style of debate originated from the 1858 Senate Race between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. This type of debate is done individually. It is more traditional than Policy debate in the sense that it has a greater focus on values including morality, justice, democracy, etc. and philosophical ideas. 

 

Both sides debate a resolution dealing with an action that the United States government or democracies “ought” to do. Like Policy debate, debaters can choose to debate the topic in a more real-world implementation sense. This type of debate focuses on whether or not the resolution can effectively be but into action and whether or not the resolution will solve the problem at hand. However, debaters are also free to debate the topic in a more hypothetical sense and focus on whether the resolution is moral or immoral. 

 

Unlike Policy debate which has a year round topic, the topic for LD changes every two months to expose students to various different political issues. Also, while policy debate focuses on rapid argumentation, LD is slower paced for "normal" arguments.

 

The debate round consists of five speeches. Three are given by the affirmative and two by the negative. The debate round is as follows. 

1AC: This is the affirmative constructive where the debater lays out all of his/her arguments in support of the plan. 

1NC: This is the negative constructive where the debater lays out all of his/her arguments against the plan. He/she should also begin to counter the affirmative’s claims. 

1AR: This is the first affirmative rebuttal where all of the negative’s claims should be countered and original affirmative arguments extended. 

1NR: This is the negative rebuttal where all the affirmative’s claims should be countered, original negative arguments extended, and reasons for winning given. 

1AR: This is the final affirmative rebuttal and speech where the 1AR should be extended and reasons for winning given.