Special Collections

The Advocates

A series of debates with a moderator facilitating the discussion of national and international issues – using advocates who would introduce witnesses to support their point of view. Debates recorded at Boston’s Faneuil Hall. Moderators included: Michael Dukakis; Marilyn Berger; Michael Harrington, Robert Maynard. (Premiered October, 1969; conceived by Prof. Roger Fisher.)

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Should Courts Admit Evidence that Police Have Seized Illegally? Should Courts Be Able To Admit Evidence Police Have Seized Illegally? Should Defenses based on Pleas of Insanity be Abolished in Criminal Trials? Should Drug Advertisements Be Banned From Television Should half of the federal dollars reserved for highways be diverted to mass transit systems? Should Journalists have the right to protect their sources? Should large corporations be driven out of farming? Should Marriage Between Homosexuals Be Permitted? Should Newsmen be allowed to keep secret their sources of information without fear of jail? Should newspapers be required to give reply space to political candidates and others they have attacked? Should public use of our national parks be restricted? Should Puerto Rico Become a State, a Commonwealth, or an Independent Nation? Should Social Security benefits be financed in part from general tax revenues? Should television news be exempt from the fairness doctrine? Should the Federal Government give tax credits to help pay for school tuition? Should the federal government guarantee comprehensive medical care for all Americans? Should The Federal Government Reduce Everybody’s Income Tax Thirty Percent Over The Next Three Years? Should The Federal Government Subsidize Political Campaigns and Limit Individual Contributions? Should the Federal Trade Commission Ban Advertising on Children's Television? Should the Government Adopt Long-Term Wage and Price Controls for Selected Unions and Industries? Should The Government Drop The Charges Against Daniel Ellsberg Should the law allow birth control treatment for teenagers without their parents’ consent? Should The Law Permit Voluntary Euthanasia For The Terminally Ill? Should the news media refuse to publish candidate preference polls? Should the Olympics be open to professional athletes? Should The President Be Impeached? Should the president spend the money Congress appropriates?
Should the United States Press for Israeli Withdrawal From Occupied Territories and Offer to Guarantee Israel's Security? Should the United States Support 'Self-Determination' for Palestinians in a Middle East Peace Settlement? Should The U.S. Agree To United Nations Control Of Undersea Mining? Should the U.S. Government Establish an Independent Consumer Protection Agency? Should the US immediately develop its oil, coal, and other resources to meet the energy crisis? Should there be a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget? Should United States foreign policy include covert action by the CIA? Should we cut back veteran’s preference for state and federal jobs to provide more opportunities for women? Should We Develop Highly Accurate Missiles and Emphasize Military Targets Rather Than Cities? Should we end the courts’ authority over truant, runaway and incorrigible children? Should we have a compulsory system of service for all young Americans? Should We Impose Mandatory Controls On Wages, Prices and Profits? Should we legalize marijuana? Should We Lift Our Embargo on Trade with Castro's Cuba? Should we limit the size of investments by banks and other large institutions in the stock market? Should We Rely on Nuclear Power to Help Supply Our Future Emergency Needs? Should We Stop Construction Of Nuclear Power Plants? Should Your City Provide Methadone to Heroin Addicts? Should Your State Adopt a Constitutional Amendment to Limit State Spending? Should your state assume financial control of its public schools? Should Your State Carry Out Death Sentences? Should Your State Restore the Death Penalty? Who Should Be President? Would Justice Be Served Better if a Jury Didn’t Have to be Unanimous to Convict Someone? Would the Nation be Better Off if Fewer People Went to College Would we be safer from crime if we closed down most of our prisons?