Debate strategies and tactics: From the past (1994) to the future (1999)
From the past (1994) to the future (1999)
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- Submited: October 26, 2022
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Published: October 31, 2022
Abstract
With the forthcoming second election on our doorstep, the quality of arguing and
debating comes into sharp focus. This aspect has been neglected to a large extend in
the past. Therefore this study gives a qualitative analysis of the Mandela versus De
Klerk trend setting debate – a first for South Africa – as a step towards understanding
and evaluating the processes involved in debating. In this paper the focus falls on the
verbal strategies and tactics. This paper not only gives a descriptive analysis of the
strategies and tactics that have been used, but where necessary, gives an evaluation
of the use of them. With this information as basis, some recommendations are proposed
to improve the use of strategies and tactics. These recommendations are made in the
hope that it will strengthen the quality of debating in general, in order to enrich
democracy and allow citizens to make well informed decisions in this year’s election.
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