Policy Debate Lecture Notes

Introduction to Policy Debate

• Focus on policy debate for the semester.
• Involves two-person affirmative team and two-person negative team.
• Debate centers on U.S. federal government policies with a year-long resolution.
• Goal: Decide if the U.S. should pass a specific policy.

Examples of Past Resolutions

• 2015-2016: Curtail domestic surveillance.
• 2018-2019: Reduce restrictions on legal immigration.
• Current Year: Enact substantial criminal justice reform (forensic science, policing, sentencing).

Debate Structure

• Affirmative Team: Defends the resolution by presenting a specific plan.
• Negative Team: Shows why the affirmative's plan is a bad idea.
• Teams switch sides between affirmative and negative throughout tournaments.

Significance of Debate

• Encourages understanding multiple perspectives.
• Involves extensive research and evidence.
• Rewards hard work and in-depth understanding of topics.

Key Concepts

• Presumption: Assumes the status quo is fine unless proven otherwise.
  • Affirmative must prove that the status quo is problematic to warrant a change.

Five Stock Issues

1. Harms/Significance: Problems in the status quo.
2. Inherency: Barriers preventing problem resolution.
3. Solvency: How the plan will fix the problems.
4. Disadvantage: Negative repercussions of the plan.
5. Topicality: Whether the plan aligns with the resolution.

Speech Orders and Times

• Four participants: 1A, 2A (affirmative speakers), 1N, 2N (negative speakers).
• Constructive and rebuttal speeches, cross-examination.
• Speech Structure:
  • 1AC (8 min), 1A stays for cross-exam by 2N.
  • 1NC (8 min), cross-exam by 1A.
  • 2AC (8 min), cross-exam by 1N.
  • 2NC (8 min), cross-exam by 2A.
  • Negative Block: 2NC & 1NR (consecutive speeches).
  • Rebuttals (5 min each): 1AR, 2NR, 2AR.
• 8 minutes total prep time per team.

Constructive vs. Rebuttal

• Constructives: Introduce new arguments and evidence.
• Rebuttals: Focus on explaining and closing arguments without introducing new evidence.

Choosing Speaker Positions

• 2A: Main affirmative speaker.
• 2N: Main negative speaker.
• Each partner alternates roles in affirmative and negative sides.

Preparation and Execution

• It's crucial to understand the role each participant plays and the structure of the debate.
• Memorization of speech orders and times is essential for clarity during debates.

Conclusion

• Understanding the details of policy debate structure and strategy is foundational.
• Future videos will cover stock issues and specific speeches to deepen understanding.

These notes provide a comprehensive overview of policy debate essentials and are useful for preparing and participating in upcoming debates.