Table of Contents

Starting Out

• What is Policy Debate?

• Starting out

Format

• Speakers

• Policy Format

  • Cross examinations

  • 1AC

  • 1NC

  • 2AC

  • 2NC + 1NR

  • 2NR

  • 2AR

Starting Out

What is Policy Debate?

Policy debate is the oldest debate format that is debated in high school and colleges across the nation. Policy debate consists of two teams each assigned a side as "Affirmative" or "Negative" respectively. A topic or "resolution" is given that maintain throughout the year and usually the affirmative team will provide a plan or a smaller scope of how the "resolution" can be achieved each round. The "Negative" will provide reasons why the plan the affirmative provides is bad or alternative ways that are better.

Starting out

Policy debate may seem pretty hard at times when you are first starting out and trust me I had those moment too. There are many online resources out there like us that can help you with understanding policy better and strong fundamentals will definitely set you up for success. Trust the process, give policy some faith, and best of luck in your policy journey!

Good online Resources

https://thedebateguru.weebly.com/intro-to-policy-debate.html

https://www.debatedrills.com/policy/what-is-policy-debate

https://www.speechanddebate.org/wp-content/uploads/MS-Policy-Guide.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQDC15HMAFo&list=PLXFeJa_kcaPRqCEP-g4OqasX3jgysWMHl&index=6

(*Additionally novice packets for each year's topic can be found on the NDCA Website )

https://www.debatecoaches.org

Format

Speakers

There are two speakers on each team and their roles are shown below:

AFF Team

The first affirmative speaker (1A) - Gives the 1AC and 1AR

The second affirmative speaker (2A) - Gives the 2AC and 2AR

Neg Team

The first negative speaker (1N) - Gives the 1NC and 1NR

The second negative speaker (2N) - Gives the 2NC and 2NR

Note that in policy the 1A will usually be the 2N when the team becomes negative in different debate round but there are also teams that have one person as the 1A and 1N and another as the 2A and 2N which is less common.

Policy Format

You can think of policy debate as split into two sections: Constructive and Rebuttal

There are four of each section two for each sides. Constructive speeches are all 8 minutes with a cross examination period of 3 minutes after each speech and rebuttal speeches are 4 minutes each. The explanation of each speech will be down below.

Cross Examinations

Cross examination happens after each constructive speech and is a time where only one side asks questions about what the other side has brought up in their respective speeches. If the cross ex is after an affirmative speech, the negative asks and the affirmatives answers and vice verse.

You should go into cross examination with a plan of what questions you want to ask and what asking these questions can achieve. Utilized well, cross examination can be your best friend whether it is to clarify something you don't understand or to set up contradictions and trap or the other team.

Note it is important to draw a fine line of be assertive and rude during cross examination. It may be hard to find the line between these two but as you become more familiar with debate and start going to tournaments you can ask the judge for feedback on how they felt and how you should improve.

First Affirmative Constructive (1AC)

The 1AC is the first speech of the debate and is 8 minutes long. Here the affirmative will present their plan and advantages. The advantages are multiple pieces of evidence of why the plan is a good idea. This speech is completely pre-written before any tournaments or rounds and the affirmative should know it inside out. The 1A should practice this speech at home and shouldn't take big pauses or stumble over themselves as this is your chance to put out as much information as you can in the span of 8 minutes. A well constructed 1AC will help the rest of your speeches proceed easier.

First Negative Constructive (1NC)

This is the negative's first speech of the debate round. In this speech, the negative will set up their own arguments and answer the affirmative's 1AC. The negative's own arguments are called offcase positions that consists of counterplans, disadvantages, kritiks, and topicality. There can be as many as 10 offcase positions or just one and more will be discussed in other articles. The negative's answer to the 1AC is called oncase positions and consists of defense and offense to the plan and advantages that the affirmative has brought up in their previous speech.

Second Affirmative Constructive (2AC)

This is the affirmative's second chance to build more on their case. In the 2AC, the affirmative should spend less time on their case as the 1AC should be well built. The speaker will spend some time extending and defending their case and spending the rest to answer negative offense or offcase. The 2A should attempt to have coverage on all the offcase positions as failure to do so can be detrimental and result in a lost debate round.

The Block (2NC + 1NR)

The block is 13 minutes of negative speech time that is only sectioned off by the 2NC cross examination. These two speeches should be treated as one and shouldn't have repeating arguments. The 2NC and 1NR would usually take preparation time before the speech and discuss how they will split up and take different arguments most strategically. With all this time, the negative should be able to tie up any loose end they have from previous speeches and put pressure on the affirmative.

First Affirmative Rebuttal (1AR)

The 1AR or first affirmative rebuttal is often considered the hardest speech in policy debate. The 1A speaker gets 5 minutes of time to answer 13 minutes of negative content. This is where you should utilize your previous arguments and analyze what arguments are the most threatening and should be prioritized. Make sure to answer the most threatening arguments made in the neg block as failure to do so in the 1AR would be fatal. The 1AR can also choose to collapse their 1AC or kick some advantages to leverage good arguments and take off some burden.

Second Negative Rebuttal (2NR)

This is the last speech for the negative and also their last attempt to convince the judge why they should win. The negative usually would not be going for everything they have mentioned above. They should collapse their arguments to only the one or two arguments that have the most strategic advantages in the round and the ones they are winning on. The 2N can also pre-empt affirmative arguments they think they will make in the 2NR.

Second Affirmative Rebuttal (2AR)

The 2AR is the last affirmative speech and the last speech of the debate. This speech holds a lot of weight as it being the last speech has the ability to influence judges and their decision. The affirmative wants to address the claims that the negative has made in their 2NR and tie together any lose ends for the affirmative. They will use their case as a reason why the judge should vote for the affirmative and prove the negative wrong.