Debating societies [ Clubs & Societies / Associational culture ]
… Résumé Debating societies became well-established institutions in London and provincial cities, catering for the taste for public debate among the lower and middling sorts. Topics could be frivolous, but when societies debated … not have members but customers and they were open to the general public. Their success is probably due to the public’s taste for public speaking and oratory; and to the managers’ savvy choice of topics appealing to various intellectual … p. 57–86. Topics ranged from the frivolous to the political and the religious. Managers tried to cater to the public taste; some societies specialized in more political topics while others eschewed them. Debates closely followed the …
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