In Policy Debate , a or '''topic''' is a Normative statement which the Affirmative Team affirms and the Negative Team 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.
- 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, Citizen Corps, Senior Corps, Peace Corps, Learn and Serve America, Armed Forces. (2006-2007)
- Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially decrease its authority either to detain without charge or to search without probable cause. (2005-2006)
- Resolved: The United States federal government should establish a foreign policy substantially increasing its support of United Nations peacekeeping operations. (2004-2005)
- Resolved: The United States federal government should establish an ocean policy substantially increasing protection of marine natural resources. (2003-2004)
- Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase public health services for mental health care in the United States. (2002-2003)
- Resolved: The United States federal government should establish a foreign policy significantly limiting the use of weapons of mass destruction. (2001-2002)
- Resolved: 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 & seizure. (2000-2001)
- Resolved: The federal government should establish an education policy to significantly increase academic achievement in secondary schools in the United States. (1999-2000)
- Resolved: The United States should substantially change its foreign policy toward Russia. (1998-1999)
- Resolved: That the federal government should establish a policy to substantially increase renewable energy use in the United States. (1997-1998)
- Resolved: That the federal government should establish a policy to substantially reduce juvenile crime in the United States. (1996-1997)
- Resolved: That the United States government should substantially change its foreign policy toward the People's Republic of China. (1995-1996)
- Resolved: That the United States government should substantially strengthen regulation of immigration to the United States. (1994-1995)
- Resolved: That the federal government should guarantee comprehensive national health insurance to all United States citizens. (1993-1994)
- Resolved: That the United States government should reduce worldwide pollution through its trade and/or aid policies. (1992-1993)
- Resolved: That the federal government should significantly increase social services to homeless individuals in the United States. (1991-1992)
- Resolved: That the United States government should significantly increase space exploration beyond the Earth's mesosphere. (1990-1991)
- Resolved: That the federal government should adopt a nationwide policy to decrease overcrowding in prisons and jails in the United States. (1989-1990)
(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 Organisation ;
- Removal of its barriers to and encouragement of substantial European Union and/or North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 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
(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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