Inter-collegiate policy debate is a form of speech competition involving two teams of two debaters from different

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

s or

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

based on a resolution phrased as something the

United States federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fe ...

"should" do. Policy debate also exists as a

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

activity, with a very similar format, but different leagues, tournaments, speech times, resolutions, and styles.

Format

Each round is divided into four 9-minute

constructive Although the general English usage of the adjective constructive is "helping to develop or improve something; helpful to someone, instead of upsetting and negative," as in the phrase "constructive criticism," in legal writing ''constructive'' has ...

speeches, each followed by a 3-minute cross-examination period, then four 6-minute

rebuttal In law, rebuttal is a form of evidence that is presented to contradict or nullify other evidence that has been presented by an adverse party. By analogy the same term is used in politics and public affairs to refer to the informal process by ...

speeches. The two sides alternate, with the affirmative getting the first and last speeches of the round and the negative getting the last constructive and the first rebuttal in the middle. Most affirmative teams present a specific policy option, or plan, as a normative defence of the resolution. However, some teams partake in alternative forms of debate, including performance, personal advocacies, or otherwise

critical Critical or Critically may refer to: *Critical, or critical but stable, medical states **Critical, or intensive care medicine *Critical juncture, a discontinuous change studied in the social sciences. *Critical Software, a company specializing in ...

approaches. Negatives have several options for response, including

solvency Solvency, in finance or business, is the degree to which the current assets of an individual or entity exceed the current liabilities of that individual or entity. Solvency can also be described as the ability of a corporation to meet its long-t ...

arguments against the effectiveness of the plan, external policy

disadvantage In policy debate, a disadvantage (abbreviated as DA, and sometimes referred to as: Disad) is an argument that a team brings up against a policy action that is being considered. A disadvantage is also used in the Lincoln-Douglas debate format. ...

s, opportunity-cost-based

counterplan A counterplan is a component of debate theory commonly employed in the activity of parliamentary and policy debate. While some conceptions of debate theory require the negative position in a debate to defend the status quo against an affirmative ...

s, arguments stemming from debate theory such as the failure of the affirmative to advocate the resolution, and critical approaches. Argument is highly evidence-based, with numerous lengthy excerpts from books and articles read by each side. Speeches are often very fast, so much so as to be incomprehensible to people who are not used to the style.

Governing organizations

Inter-collegiate policy debate has been historically overseen by the

National Debate Tournament The National Debate Tournament is one of the national championships for collegiate policy debate in the United States. The tournament is sponsored by the American Forensic Association with the Ford Motor Company Fund. History of the NDT The ...

(NDT), the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA), and, especially in the mid-Atlantic region, the American Debate Association (ADA). Since 1996-97 these organizations have shared a common topic, and have become largely unified. They nonetheless continue to host their own national championships. Other organizations that sponsor policy debate, albeit with different rules, are the

National Educational Debate Association {{Unreferenced, date=January 2011 The National Educational Debate Association (NEDA) is an American collegiate debate association emphasizing audience-centered debate. It was founded by debate educators who believe that the debate tournament is an ...

(NEDA) and the National Forensics Association's Lincoln Douglas (NFA-LD) debate (a policy variant of the high school LD format, which is less commonly practiced in colleges and universities).

Differences with high school debate

Inter-collegiate and high school policy debate are largely similar. Some of the differences: *High school debate has its own, separate, leagues and tournaments. *High school constructives are typically only 8 minutes, and high school rebuttals are typically only 5 minutes. College times are typically 9 minute constructives and 6 minute rebuttals. *Each year, the high school resolution is different from the college policy resolution. Experienced college debaters often act as paid coaches, judges, and summer-camp counselors for high school policy debaters.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inter-Collegiate Policy Debate Policy debate