Welcome to Team Policy Debate!
In this event, a team of two debaters proposes a specific plan to accomplish the goal stated in the resolution while another team of two debaters opposes the plan and/or the resolution. This form of debate simulates argumentation in a legislative body.
2024-2025 Resolution
Debate resolutions set the boundaries of the topic that teams will debate for the season. This year's policy resolution is Resolved: The United States Federal Government should significantly reform its foreign policy toward one or more of the following Central American countries: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
Team Policy Debate
Learn More
Policy debate challenges students to think critically about laws, regulations, and policies that impact societies. It seeks to identify possible problems with current conditions (the status quo) and weigh the advantages and disadvantages associated with making a change in policy. The requirement to alternate between affirming and negating a resolution helps students learn that there are reasonable arguments for both sides of most policy proposals.
How This Event Works
Debaters use different ways to structure cases and arguments, but the affirmative team will generally identify a problem with the current status of a policy (or the lack of policy) and try to explain the resulting harms or benefits withheld. In most rounds, they will argue that their plan will provide advantages when compared with the status quo.
The negative team may call into question whether the alleged harms in the status quo are really serious, and/or whether they might be solved some other way. They may question whether the proposed plan will actually solve the alleged problems with the current situation, point out disadvantages and argue that those outweigh the possible advantages, or even present an alternative approach.
Policy Debate Competition Resources
The following FREE resources for the 2024-2025 seasonare available to help competitors start the season.
- Resolution Introduction
- Exhibition Round
- Sample Affirmative Case
- Sample Affirmative Case Backup
- Sample Negative BriefÂ
- Flow Sheets to Take Notes: Letter or Legal
- Ballot Sample
Please scroll down for information about additional resources available through the NCFCA Shop.
24-25 Policy Resolution Research Bundle:Â $25.00
Updated for Summer 2024! Focused research is essential for policy debate. In our 1-Day Policy Resolution Kickoff, students joined the NCFCA Debate Committee and topic experts for a deep dive into the 2024-25 policy resolution.
Now we’re offering our resources so that you can facilitate discussions, guide research, and analyze policies with your students at home or with friends at a local club or class. We’ve organized and compiled 6 months of research into a single resource that will provide a focused research strategy for the season.
1: Resolution Overview
2: Resolution Background
3: Expert Insights
4: Affirmative Perspectives
5: Plan Advocates
6: Negative Perspectives
Check Out our Comprehensive Policy Debate Curriculum
Written from a biblical worldview, this 15-week course invites Christian high-school students to weigh ideas, write and deliver a proposal for reform, defend a position, counter opposing arguments, and persuade an audience.
The Family Bundle is perfect for homeschooling families and includes the Student Text, the Student Workbook, and the Teacher Manual.
Get Started with Our That's Debatable Camp Kit
With six hours of instruction and activities, an easy-to-follow facilitator guide, printable student activity packets, and slides, even a novice parent can successfully lead students through this camp.
Team Policy Debate FAQs
How many debate rounds will competitors have in each tournament?
There will be six preliminary rounds of debate for all competitors (except in the event of an odd number of teams which causes some teams to have only five preliminary rounds). Teams with the strongest winning records will advance to elimination rounds. The number of elimination rounds depends on the number of teams entered in each style of debate.
How do debaters know if they will be affirmative or negative?
In preliminary rounds, debaters will have three rounds as the affirmative team and three as the negative team except in the case that they have been assigned a bye for one round. Before each round, the postings will show which teams are debating one another and which team will be affirmative and which team will be negative. Competitors must take care to confirm their side for each round. It is possible they may debate on the same side as the prior round.
What is power matching in debate and Moot Court?
After the first round, teams are matched against another team with the same or similar win/loss record up to that point in the tournament. The details for how power matching works are available in the Tab and Qualifications Guidelines in the Resource Library.
When and how do competitors get their ballots?
After the tournament, ballots will be available from the Ballots button on the right side of the dashboard just above the Tournament Results button.
What is needed for online debate evidence exchange?
File uploads are strongly recommended as some formatting may not be retained if evidence is copied directly into the evidence-exchange chat.
Prior to the tournament, have evidence files named, saved as pdfs (recommended), and organized in order to upload promptly, if requested. Examples include:
- AC/1AC
- Every piece of evidence that may be presented in a debate round saved as individual files (recommended)
Ensure that each file includes a proper citation in accordance with the rules.
Lengthy pieces of evidence (more than 2,000 characters) cannot be copied and pasted into the evidence-exchange chat.
Brief pieces of evidence (less than 2,000 characters) may be shared via the evidence-exchange chat if created and formatted in Google docs or other web-based word processing platforms. Sharing direct links to evidence sources is not permitted.
Is it okay to quote the Bible in debate rounds?
For a comprehensive answer to this question, please see our blog post on the use of scripture in debate rounds
What is meant by “late arguments” in debate?
For a comprehensive answer to this question, please see our blog article on new arguments in rebuttal speeches.
Why is evidence so important in debate?
For a comprehensive answer to this question, please read our blog article on why citations matter in debate.
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