Debatepedia is "the Wikipedia of pros and cons". Its mission is to "clarify public debates and improve decision-making globally". Debatepedia is a project of the International Debate Education Association (IDEA), a 501c3 non-profit. It utilizes the same wiki technology powering Wikipedia to engage you and other citizen-editors in clarifying public debates by centralizing them into a single pro/con encyclopedia. This helps you, other citizens, and leaders better weigh ALL the pros and cons, develop positions, and make more informed decisions, votes, etc... And this significantly improves democracy and people's lives. Get startedJoin our Facebook group Debatepedia is endorsed by the National Forensic League.
Editorial Notes and Tasks
The following is a list of editing notes and tasks. You can email brooks [at] debatepedia [dot] org for other editing tasks, instructions, or general questions about how to get involved. See Community portal for upcoming Debate Digest articles you can help build.
June 29th: The latest Debate Digest article - Debate: Election of judges - does not have enough pro arguments, quotations, and pro articles from which to draw quotes. A good way to jump in here is by searching for "pro arguments in favor of electing judges", and then by drawing arguments and quotations from articles and editorials you find.
June 25th:Debate: Term limits for Supreme Court justices was just created, and is an interesting and important debate topic that we've posted fairly high on the Debate Digest list of debates to work on in the near future, if anyone is interested in getting a jump start in building it out.(Community portal).
June 24th: Community is working on the Debate Digest article for the 25th, Debate: Election of judges. New editors are welcome to join in the editing process.
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Below are debates that are occurring around the IDEA community, in actual debate events or online, and for which Debatepedia has developed corresponding pro/con articles.
The People Speak Global Debates IDEA has joined The People Speak, a project of the United Nations Foundation, in yet another effort, developing content on Debatepedia to serve debaters in the TPS Global Debates March 2009 competition.
The topic: Developed countries have a higher obligation to combat climate change. Debatepedia has created an extensive pro/con article to help contestants form their cases and compete. The article also helps inform the global citizenry about this important debate, which stems largely from the Kyoto Protocols' "common but differentiated responsibilities" and questions about whether the treaty's predecessor (in 2012) will include similar principles. This is the fourth project between IDEA and The People Speak. See past projects here.
Polygamy - Should polygamous marriages (to more than one person) be legal?
Vegetarianism - Should humans stop eating animals and become vegetarians?
Featured Community Activity
This section features strong work done by Debatepedia editors. Consider joining their efforts. User Guide. See Recent changes for all recent community edits.
June 25th: Brooks Lindsay created a strong background introduction on Debate: Election of judges that summarizes the fundamental questions involved in the debate.
