POLICY

WHAT IS Policy?

TYPE OF DEBATE: two on two debate

TOPICS: Policy debate focuses on a government policy question. The Topic for the 2025-26 school year is:

Resolved: The United States federal government should significantly increase its exploration and/or development of the Arctic.

WHEN ARE TOPICS ISSUED: topics for Policy stay the same for an entire academic year

Policy debate is a two-on-two debate where an affirmative team proposes a plan and the negative team argues why that plan should not be adopted. The topic for policy debate changes annually, so debaters throughout the course of the year will debate the same topic.

Traits of Successful Policy Debater

• Critical of what s/he is told

• Team player

• Scans as s/he reads

• Determined to find the best research

• Longer attention span

• Single minded

Research

Policy debate is a very research-intensive activity. Unlike traditional writing where the author may briefly quote or even paraphrase evidence, Policy Debate relies on the use of cards, or pieces of evidence directly quoted word-forword from the source.

Meet Your Coach

Ms. Danielle Jones