Resolution (policy debate)
Encyclopedia
In policy debate
Policy debate
Policy debate is a form of speech competition in which teams of two advocate for and against a resolution that typically calls for policy change by the United States federal government or security discourse...

, a resolution or topic is a normative
Norm (sociology)
Social norms are the accepted behaviors within a society or group. This sociological and social psychological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. These rules may be explicit or implicit...

 statement which the affirmative team
Affirmative (policy debate)
In policy debate, the affirmative is the team which affirms the resolution.The Affirmative side negates the negative.The affirmative team speaks first and last. They give four speeches:*First affirmative constructive...

 affirms and the negative team
Negative (policy debate)
In policy debate, the Negative is the team which negates the resolution.The negative team speaks second and second to last. They give four speeches:*First negative constructive *Second negative constructive *First negative rebuttal...

 negates. Resolutions are selected annually by affiliated schools.

At the college level, a number of topics are proposed and interested parties write 'topic papers' discussing the pros and cons of that individual topic. Each school then gets one vote on the topic. The single topic area voted on then has a number of proposed topic wordings, one is chosen, and it is debated by affiliated students nationally for the entire season.

The high school policy debate topic is selected annually under the auspices of the National Federation of State High School Association's Speech, Debate, and Theater Association. The topic process calls for two rounds of voting, the first narrowing down five initial choices to two, and the second selecting the final resolution. In each round, each state has a vote, the National Forensic League
National Forensic League
The National Forensic League is a non-partisan, non-profit educational honor society established to encourage and motivate American high school students to participate in and become proficient in the forensic arts: debate, public speaking and interpretation. NFL is the America's oldest and largest...

 has a vote, and the National Catholic Forensic League
National Catholic Forensic League
The National Catholic Forensic League is a speech and debate league that was formed in 1951. It is organized into regions which correspond to Roman Catholic dioceses. Member schools include both public and parochial high schools. The CFL recruits member schools in both the United States and Canada...

 has a vote. Each state's activities association has its own process for determining the state's vote.

Recent National Policy Debate High School Resolutions

(2011–2012) Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its exploration and/or development of space beyond the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

’s mesosphere
Mesosphere
The mesosphere is the layer of the Earth's atmosphere that is directly above the stratosphere and directly below the thermosphere. In the mesosphere temperature decreases with increasing height. The upper boundary of the mesosphere is the mesopause, which can be the coldest naturally occurring...

.

(2010–2011) Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially reduce its military and/or police presence in one or more of the following: South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

, Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

.

(2009–2010) Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

(2008–2009) Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase alternative energy
Alternative energy
Alternative energy is an umbrella term that refers to any source of usable energy intended to replace fuel sources without the undesired consequences of the replaced fuels....

 incentives in the United States.

(2007–2008) Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its public health assistance to Sub-Saharan Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

.

(2006–2007) Resolved: The United States federal government should establish a policy substantially increasing the number of persons serving in one or more of the following national service programs: AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps is a U.S. federal government program that was created under President Bill Clinton by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 and later expanded by 50 percent under President George W. Bush...

, Citizen Corps
Citizen Corps
Citizen Corps is a United States national service program under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security that seeks to mobilize the population of the country against threats to national security as well as to assist in the recovery after a disaster or terrorist attack...

, Senior Corps
Senior Corps
Senior Corps is a United States government agency under the authority of the Corporation For National and Community Service. Its stated mission is to provide aid to senior citizens in communities while promoting a sense of community...

, Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...

, Learn and Serve America, and/or the Armed Forces
Armed Forces
Armed Forces is Elvis Costello's third album, his second with the Attractions, and the first to officially credit the Attractions on the cover. It was released in the UK by Radar Records and in the U.S. by Columbia in 1979...

.

(2005–2006) Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially decrease its authority either to detain without charge or to search without probable cause
Probable cause
In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which an officer or agent of the law has the grounds to make an arrest, to conduct a personal or property search, or to obtain a warrant for arrest, etc. when criminal charges are being considered. It is also used to refer to the...

.

(2004–2005) Resolved: That the United States federal government should establish a foreign policy substantially increasing its support of United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 peacekeeping operations.

(2003–2004) Resolved: That the United States federal government should establish an ocean policy substantially increasing protection of marine natural resources.

(2002–2003) Resolved: That the United States federal government should substantially increase public health services for mental health
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...

 care in the United States.

(2001–2002) Resolved: That the United States federal government should establish a foreign policy significantly limiting the use of weapons of mass destruction
Weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...

.

(2000–2001) Resolved: That the United States federal government should significantly increase protection of privacy in the United States in one or more of the following areas: employment, medical records, consumer information, search and seizure
Search and seizure
Search and seizure is a legal procedure used in many civil law and common law legal systems whereby police or other authorities and their agents, who suspect that a crime has been committed, do a search of a person's property and confiscate any relevant evidence to the crime.Some countries have...

.

(1999–2000) Resolved: That the federal government should establish an education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

 policy to significantly increase academic achievement in secondary schools in the United States.

(1998–1999) Resolved: That the United States government should substantially change its foreign policy toward Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

.

(1997–1998) Resolved: That the federal government should establish a policy to substantially increase renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...

 use in the United States

(1996–1997) Resolved: That the federal government should establish a program to substantially reduce juvenile crime in the United States

(1995–1996) Resolved: That the United States government should substantially change its foreign policy toward the People’s Republic of China.

(1994–1995) Resolved: That the United States government should substantially strengthen regulation of immigration to the United States.

(1993–1994) Resolved: That the federal government should guarantee comprehensive national health insurance
National health insurance
National health insurance is health insurance that insures a national population for the costs of health care and usually is instituted as a program of healthcare reform. It is enforced by law. It may be administered by the public sector, the private sector, or a combination of both...

 to all United States citizens.

(1992–1993) Resolved: That the United States government should reduce worldwide pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...

 through its trade and/or aid policies.

(1991–1992) Resolved: That the federal government should significantly increase social services to homeless individuals in the United States.

(1990–1991) Resolved: That the United States government should significantly increase space exploration
Space exploration
Space exploration is the use of space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....

 beyond the Earth's mesosphere
Mesosphere
The mesosphere is the layer of the Earth's atmosphere that is directly above the stratosphere and directly below the thermosphere. In the mesosphere temperature decreases with increasing height. The upper boundary of the mesosphere is the mesopause, which can be the coldest naturally occurring...

.

(1989–1990) Resolved: That the federal government should adopt a nationwide policy to decrease overcrowding in prisons and jails in the
United States.

(1988–1989) Resolved: That the federal government should implement a comprehensive program to guarantee retirement security for United
States citizens over age 65.

(1987–88) Resolved: That the United States government should adopt a policy to increase political stability in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

.

(1986–87) Resolved: That the federal government should implement a comprehensive long-term agricultural policy in the United States.

(1985–1986) Resolved: That the federal government should establish a comprehensive national policy to protect the quality of water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

 in the
United States.

(1984–1985) Resolved: That the federal government should provide employment for all employable United States citizens living in
poverty.

(1983–1984) Resolved: That the United States should establish uniform rules governing the procedure of all criminal courts in the nation.

(1982–1983) Resolved: That the United States should significantly curtail its arms sales to other countries.

(1981–1982) Resolved: That the federal government should establish minimum educational standards for elementary and secondary schools in the United States.

(1980–1981) Resolved: That the federal government should initiate and enforce safety guarantees on consumer goods.

(1979–1980) Resolved: That the United States should significantly change its foreign trade policies.

(1978–1979) Resolved: That the federal government should establish a comprehensive program to significantly increase the energy independence
Energy independence
The following articles relate to the topic of energy independence:* Energy resilience* Energy security* North American energy independence* Swedish Commission on Oil Independence* United States energy independence...

 of the United States.

(1977–1978) Resolved: That the federal government should establish a comprehensive program to regulate the health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...

 system in the United States.

(1976–1977) Resolved: That a comprehensive program of penal reform should be adopted throughout the United States.

(1975–1976) Resolved: That the development and allocation of scarce world resources should be controlled by an international organization.

(1974–1975) Resolved: That the United States should significantly change the method of selecting presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

(1973–1974) Resolved: That the federal government should guarantee a minimum annual income to each family unit.

(1972–1973) Resolved: That governmental financial support for all public and secondary education in the United States be provided exclusively by the federal government

(1971–1972) Resolved: That the jury system in the United States should be significantly changed

1971
Resolved: That the federal government should establish, finance, and administer programs to control air and/or water pollution
Water pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....

 in the United States.

1970
Resolved: That Congress should prohibit unilateral United States military intervention in foreign countries.

1969
Resolved: That the United States should establish a system of compulsory service by all citizens.

1968
Resolved: That Congress should establish uniform regulations to control criminal investigation procedures.

1967
Resolved: That the foreign aid program of the United States should be limited to non-military assistance.

1966
Resolved: That the federal government should adopt a program of compulsory arbitration in labor-management disputes in basic industries.

1965
Resolved: That nuclear weapons should be
controlled by an international organization.

1964
Resolved: That Social Security benefits should
be extended to include complete medical care.

1963
Resolved: That the United States should
promote a Common Market for the western
hemisphere.

1962
Resolved: That the federal government should equalize educational opportunity by means of grants to the states for public elementary and secondary education.

1961
Resolved: That the United Nations should be significantly strengthened.

1960
Resolved: That the federal government should
substantially increase its regulation of labor
unions.

1959
Resolved: That the United States should adopt
the essential features of the British system of
education.

1958
Resolved: That United States foreign aid
should be substantially increased.

1957
Resolved: That the federal government should
sustain the prices of major agricultural products
at not less than 90% of parity.

1956
Resolved: That governmental subsidies should
be granted according to need to high school
graduates who qualify for additional training.

1955
Resolved: That the federal government should
initiate a policy of free trade among nations
friendly to the United States.

1954
Resolved: That the President of the United
States should be elected by the direct vote of
the people.

1953
Resolved: That the Atlantic Pact nations
should form a federal union.

1952
Resolved: That all American citizens should
be subject to conscription for essential
service in time of war.

1951
Resolved: That the American people should
reject the welfare state.

1950
Resolved: That the president of the United
States should be elected by the direct vote of
the people.

1949
Resolved: That the United States now be
revised into a Federal World Government.

1948
Resolved: That the federal government
should require arbitration of labor disputes in
all basic American industries.

1947
Resolved: That the federal government
should provide a system of complete medical
care available to all citizens at public
expense.

1946
Resolved: That every able-bodied male citizen of the United States should have one year of full-time military training before
attaining age 24.

1945
Resolved: That the legal voting age should be reduced to eighteen years.

1944
Resolved: That the United States should join in reconstituting the League of Nations.

1943
Resolved: That a federal world government should be established.

1942
Resolved: That every able-bodied male
citizen in the United States should be
required to have one year of full-time
military training before attaining the present
draft age.

1941
Resolved: That the power of the federal
government should be increased.

1940
Resolved: That the federal government should
own and operate the railroads.

1939
Resolved: That the United States should
establish an alliance with Great Britain.

1938
Resolved: That the several states should adopt a
unicameral system of legislation.

1937
Resolved: That all electric utilities should be
governmentally owned and operated.

1936
Resolved: That the several states should enact
legislation providing for a system of complete
medical service available to all citizens at
public expense.

1935
Resolved: That the federal government should
adopt the policy of equalizing educational
opportunity throughout the nation by means of
annual grants to the several states for public
elementary and secondary education.

1934
Resolved: That the United States should adopt
the essential features of the British system of
radio control and operation.

1933
Resolved: That at least one half of all state and
local revenues should be derived from sources
other than tangible property.

1932
Resolved: That the several states should enact
legislation providing for compulsory
unemployment insurance.

1931
Resolved: That chain stores are detrimental to
the best interests of the American public.

1930
Resolved: That installment buying of personal
property as now practiced in the United States
is both socially and economically desirable.

1929
Resolved: That the English cabinet method of
legislation is more efficient than the committee
system is in the United States.

1928
Resolved: That a federal department of
education should be created with a secretary in
the president's cabinet.

Recent CEDA-NDT Intercollegiate Resolutions

(2011-2012) Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially increase its democracy assistance for one or more of the following: Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen.

(2010-2011) Resolved: the United States Federal Government should substantially increase the number of and/or substantially expand beneficiary eligibility for its visas
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...

 for one or more of the following: employment-based immigrant visas, nonimmigrant temporary worker visas, family-based visas, human trafficking-based visas.

(2009–2010) Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially reduce the size of its nuclear weapons arsenal, and/or substantially reduce and restrict the role and/or missions of its nuclear weapons arsenal.

(2008–2009) Resolved: that the United States Federal Government should substantially reduce its agricultural support, at least eliminating nearly all of the domestic subsidies, for biofuels
Biofuel
Biofuel is a type of fuel whose energy is derived from biological carbon fixation. Biofuels include fuels derived from biomass conversion, as well as solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases...

, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, corn, cotton, dairy, fisheries, rice, soybeans, sugar and/or wheat.

(2007–2008) Resolved: The United States Federal Government should increase its constructive engagement with the government of one or more of the following countries: Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, and Syria, and it should include offering them a security guarantee(s) and/or a substantial increase in foreign assistance.

(2006–2007) Resolved: The United States Supreme Court should overrule one or more of the following decisions: Planned Parenthood v. Casey
Planned Parenthood v. Casey
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the constitutionality of several Pennsylvania state regulations regarding abortion were challenged...

, 505 U.S. 833 (1992); Ex parte Quirin
Ex parte Quirin
Ex parte Quirin, , is a Supreme Court of the United States case that upheld the jurisdiction of a United States military tribunal over the trial of several Operation Pastorius German saboteurs in the United States...

, 317 U.S. 1 (1942); U.S. v. Morrison, 529 U.S. 598 (2000); Milliken v. Bradley
Milliken v. Bradley
Milliken v. Bradley, 418 U.S. 717 , was a significant United States Supreme Court case dealing with the planned desegregation busing of public school students across district lines among 53 school districts in metropolitan Detroit. It concerned the plans to integrate public schools in the United...

, 418 U.S. 717 (1974).

(2005–2006) Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase diplomatic and economic pressure on the People's Republic of China in one or more of the following areas: trade, human rights, weapons nonproliferation, Taiwan.

(2004–2005) Resolved: The United States federal government should establish an energy
policy requiring a substantial reduction in the total non-governmental
consumption of fossil fuels in the United States.

(2003–2004) Resolved: The United States federal government should enact one or more of the following:
  • Withdrawal of its World Trade Organization complaint against the European Union’s restrictions on genetically modified foods;
  • A substantial increase in its government-to-government economic and/or conflict prevention assistance to Turkey and/or Greece;
  • Full withdrawal from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization;
  • Removal of its barriers to and encouragement of substantial European Union and/or North Atlantic Treaty Organization participation in peacekeeping in Iraq and reconstruction in Iraq;
  • Removal of its tactical nuclear weapons from Europe;
  • Harmonization of its intellectual property law with the European Union in the area of human DNA sequences;
  • Rescission of all or nearly all agriculture subsidy increases in the 2002 Farm Bill.


(2002–2003) Resolved: The United States federal government should ratify or accede to, and implement, one or more of the following:
  • The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty;
  • The Kyoto Protocol;
  • The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;
  • The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights aiming at the Abolition of the Death Penalty;
  • The Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Strategic Offensive Reductions, if not ratified by the United States.


(2001–2002) Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase federal control throughout Indian Country in one or more of the following areas: child welfare, criminal justice, employment, environmental protection, gaming, resource management, taxation.

(2000–2001) Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its development assistance, including government to government assistance, within the Greater Horn of Africa.

Specific wording and spelling of terms used in the CEDA-NDT resolutions can be found here: http://www.wfu.edu/organizations/NDT/HistoricalLists/topics.html

Recent NFA-LD intercollegiate resolutions

(2011-2012) Resolved: the United States Federal Government should substantially change its trade policy and/or practices with the People’s Republic of China.

(2010-2011) Resolved: That the United States Federal Government should substantially reform the provision of mental health services to the chronically mentally ill.

(2009–2010) Resolved: That the United States Federal Government should substantially reform domestic transportation infrastructure

(2008–2009) Resolved: That the United States Federal Government should substantially increase its constructive engagement with Cuba.

(2007–2008) Resolved: That the United States Federal Government should substantially increase assistance to the Greater Horn of Africa in one of the following areas: economic development, human rights protection, or public health.

(2006–2007) Resolved: That the United States Federal Government should adopt a policy to significantly increase the production of energy from renewable sources.

(2005–2006) Resolved: That the United States federal government should adopt a policy to increase the protection of human rights in one or more of the following nations: Tibet, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, East Timor, Indonesia, Philippines, and/or Pakistan.

(2004–2005) Resolved: That the United States federal government should significantly reform the criminal justice system.

(2003–2004) Resolved: That the United States federal government should substantially increase environmental regulations on industrial pollution

(2002–2003) Resolved: That the United States federal government should significantly increase assistance to United States residents living below the poverty line.

(2001–2002) Resolved: That the United States federal government should significantly alter its policy for combating international terrorism.

(2000–2001) Resolved: That the United States federal government should significantly increase restrictions on civil lawsuits.

(1999–2000) Resolved: That the United States federal government should increase restrictions on the development, use, and/or sale of genetically modified organisms.

(1998–1999) Resolved: That the US federal government should significantly increase its regulation of electronically mediated communication.

(1997–1998) Resolved: That the United States federal government should significantly change its foreign policy toward Taiwan.

For more information on NFA-LD history and the event, visit: http://www.nationalforensics.org and follow the NFA-LD links.
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