Mamet,+Elliot


 * School Affiliations**: Denver East High School, Colorado College, London School of Economics, Duke University.
 * Congressional Debate Paradigm**: Congressional debate is a debate activity. As a critic, I look for the legislator who interacts best with the chamber, who actively responds to others, and who leads their colleagues to solve problems. I value the ability to speak successfully in multiple settings (i.e., someone who can deliver a constructive, rebuttal, and crystallization speeches on both the affirmative and negative side). I rank speakers holistically and consider performance throughout the legislative session, paying particular attention to interaction with other debaters through in-speech refutation, cross-examination, parliamentary procedure skills, word economy, rhetorical skills, and source citation. I strongly dislike prewritten speeches which do not respond to other legislators. A good rule of thumb is that any speech after the authorship or sponsorship speech must respond to previous speakers. I support the debater's right to run amendments or reinterpret legislation, if these strategies advance the problem solving spirit of the activity. Additionally, I believe that debate should be a self-reflective forum, and I am sympathetic to arguments which go beyond the legislation to critique congressional debate as an activity. For more of my views on Congressional debate, see this article.