1.
Structure
of the debate:
a.
The
debate is between two teams. One
team will urge the rest of the class to accept a proposal, and the other team
will try to persuade the rest of the class to reject the proposal.
b.
The
rest of the class are national representatives of each of the EUÕs member
states and one possible future member-state, Turkey. Students will choose which country they will represent (or
whether they will debate) in class on Monday, Feb. 23rd. (The
full list of countries and roles is here.)
c.
Each
of the national representatives (i.e. the non-debaters) will be responsible for
familiarizing him/herself with the character of agriculture in his/her country
and coming up with a reasonable policy position based on this research. (See
below.)
d.
At
the end of the debate, there will be a forum for the national representatives
to provide additional arguments for or against the proposal, and then there
will be a role-call vote on the proposal.
e.
The
proposal for debate is this: Òthat the Common Agricultural Policy be abolished
within the earliest possible timeframe.Ó
2.
Explanation
of the roles and their tasks:
a.
The
Debaters:
i.
The
debaters will be divided into two teams: a ÒgovernmentÓ and an Òopposition.Ó
The government will argue for the rest of the class to accept the proposal
above, and the opposition will argue that they reject it.
ii.
A
detailed description of how the debaters will be organized and tips for how
they should prepare is available
here.
iii.
In
contrast to the rest of the class, the debaters will not have to turn in a
position paper or a justification of their vote. They also will not have to turn in a copy of their flow,
though they are strongly encouraged to use one.
iv.
Unlike
the rest of the class, the debaters need not do any extra research before the
debate beyond the readings on the syllabus.
b.
The
National Representatives:
i.
Each
national representative will choose his or her country in class on Wednesday,
Feb. 18th.
ii.
By
the time of the debate on Friday, the national representative will be
responsible for familiarizing him/herself with the situation of agriculture in
that country (size, demographics, technical level, etc.).
iii.
Based
on this research, he/she will write a short summary (one-half to one page in
length) describing what that countryÕs position on the question of abolishing
the CAP should be.
1.
This
position paper will be turned in during class on Monday, Feb. 23 (and will
count toward the overall participation grade).
2.
We
do not expect intensive research for this paper. Web sources are okay, as long as they are reputable. Some suggestions to get started:
a.
Each
countryÕs government web page, esp. the web page of the Ministry of Agriculture
b.
The
European CommissionÕs web page for agriculture and development:
http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/index_en.htm
c.
The
New York Times: nyt.com
d.
The
BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/
e.
The
Economist: economist.com
f.
The
class readings, of course!
3.
On
your position paper, please note the sources consulted.
iv.
On
the day of the debate, each national representative will be responsible for
notating the ÒflowÓ of the debate and will also turn in this flow following the
debate. (See
here for a description of how to Òflow.Ó)
v.
On
the basis of the arguments introduced in the debate (and notated in the flow),
the representative will decide how to vote on the proposal and will write a
very brief justification of his/her vote.
1.
Were
there new arguments that persuaded him or her to revise the original position
paper?