SLUDLTopicality (Negative Files) (JV & V)
Topicality - Negative
Topicality - Negative
Introduction
T - The United States federal government (1NC Shell)
T – Increase (1NC Shell)
T – Regulation Excludes Court Action (1NC Shell)
T – Regulations Exclude Courts Extensions
T – Regulations Exclude Courts: Ans 2 Courts can fund
T – Regulation Excludes Congress (1NC Shell)
T – Regulations are Executive Agency Extensions
T – Education must be curriculum (1NC Shell)
T - Education = Curriculum Ext.
Fairness > Education (as a standard/voter)
Introduction
Every fall, debate coaches from all over the country vote on what students will debate about for the following school year. First, the subject area is chosen and then the committee works on creating a resolution, the specific wording of the topic for debate. The topics vary, rotating between foreign and domestic, science, economics, law, social issues, and politics. This year, the resolution is:
The United States Federal Government should substantially increase its funding and/or regulation of primary and/or secondary education in the United States.
When you write an affirmative case, it needs to fall under this umbrella, where the U.S. federal government must increase funding or regulation of education in the US. Sometimes, however, an affirmative case isn’t actually on topic. Topicality is an argument about definitions to determine if the affirmative is on topic or not. Each of the major concepts in the resolution is debatable. If an affirmative case stretches the definitions in the topic too far, it is considered “untopical.”
Staying within the topic is considered important for two main reasons, education and fairness. If you have a case that falls outside, or stretches the bounds of the topic, the debaters won’t be prepared to engage and clash and the round won’t be very educational for those involved. Additionally, if the negative team comes prepared to debate about the topic, and the other team is outside the topic, it won’t be fair for the team that showed up ready to argue the topic.
There are three parts to a topicality argument. First, you must offer an “interpretation,” of what you think the topic is. This interpretation is a definition of how you think the topic should be defined.
Next, you need to establish a “violation.” This states what the other team is doing wrong, and should be as clear as possible.
Lastly, you need to explain how the violation you’ve identified is bad. These “standards” can take many forms. For example, if the affirmative expands the topic to new areas, that could expand the research burden for negative teams, and be unpredictable. That’s unfair to the negative team. Topicality debates are only limited by your imagination, research skills to find a definition, and ability to defend the consequences of your interpretation.
Topicality can also be a useful tool to help other arguments that you might make during a debate. For example, the resolution includes the word “substantially.” The negative team can run a Topicality argument saying that the affirmative isn’t substantial, and that the best way to measure substantial is by how much money is spent. The affirmative team could then simply answer that their plan is expensive, and that they were substantial enough to be topical. However, they’ve now admitted that their plan is very expensive, which will help the negative argue the Spending Disadvantage.
This file will include a lot of definitions, and several complete topicality arguments to get you started. Use these samples as a model to build your own arguments!
T - The United States federal government (1NC Shell)
A.Interpretation – United States Federal Government is the central government in Washington D.C.West’s Legal ‘85 Thesaurus/Dictionary, 1985, p. 744. MHHAR7000United States; usually means the federal government centered in Washington, DC
B.The affirmative team does not meet this interpretation because _____
C.Vote Negative – Topicality is a prior voting issue for the following reasons
1.Generics – We lose access to generic arguments which link into the use of the United States federal government such as the Cap K, ANY Politics DA, and Agent CP’s
2.Predictable – One part of the resolution the negative should always be able to predict is the agent the affirmative uses this destroys and preemptive strategy.
3.Fairness – It is most fair to have the affirmative defend the resolution for the negative use of generics and predictability without fairness there is no education
T – Increase (1NC Shell)
A. Interpretation – Increase means to become bigger or larger in number, quantity, or degree.
Encarta World English Dictionary, 7(“Increase”, 2007, 620741)
Increase
transitive and intransitive verb (past and past participle in·creased, present participle in·creas·ing, 3rd person present singular in·creas·es)
Definition:
make or become larger or greater:to become, or make something become, larger in number, quantity, or degree
B.The affirmative team does not meet this interpretation because ______
C.Vote Negative – Topicality is a prior voting issue for the following reasons
1.Generics – Without a plan that increases something the negative cannot run spending contingent DA’s, or K’s. This means we lose net benefits to our CP’s so we cannot debate on any ground.
2.Research Burden – We should be able to predict a plan that doesn't make any increases because without that ability it over limits the topic. This leads to plans such as fix five desks that already exist at Westie.
3.Education – We lose education in the round because we accept the affirmative plan for reality only because they are the only ones with evidence this is also a voter for fairness.
T – Regulation Excludes Court Action (1NC Shell)
A. Interpretation: Education regulation excludes the court – they are executive actions based upon Congressional grants of rulemaking authority
Bon, 8- Professor of Education and Law at the University of South Carolina (Susan, Encyclopedia of Education Law, ed: Charles Russo, p. 669-670)
REGULATION
Although education is primarily an issue reserved for state and local control, federal involvement in the form of funding, legislative enactments, and subsequent regulations has dramatically increased. Thus, numerous regulations have emerged from federal departments and agencies such as the U.S. Department of Education and the Office for Civil Rights. These regulations provide guidance to state and local educational agencies regarding educators’ responsibilities and students’ rights. For example, the rights of students with disabilities are protected under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) and are further explained in the IDEA regulations, which are issued by the Department of Education. Likewise, the educational rights of English language learners (ELLs) are protected by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and are enforced through regulations issued by the Office for Civil Rights. The legal background of regulations and how they are created are discussed in this entry.
Legal Context
Governmental powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in three separate branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial. Following a strict concept of separation of powers, each of these three governmental branches has the power and responsibility to act according to constitutional guidelines. The legislative branch has the primary power to make laws and to provide for the necessary policies and procedures to enact the laws. Regulations typically emerge as a direct result of this exercise of lawmaking power by the legislative branch.
Federal or state legislatures may delegate rulemaking authority and regulatory powers to specific agencies or departments in the executive branch of government. These governmental agencies or departments may then fulfill these delegated powers and responsibilities by issuing, or promulgating, regulations. During the 1930s, a surge of New Deal legislation emerged from Congress that began to delegate greater authority for issuing detailed regulations to various federal departments and agencies.
Regulations are issued by governmental agencies in order to accomplish the specific purposes of federal, state, or local statutes. In other words, governmental agencies are granted the authority and responsibility to promulgate reasonable rules and regulations in furtherance of the delegated legislative powers. While governmental agencies may be granted specific authority to carry out the terms of a given law, this authority is subject to various limitations upon such regulatory functions.
These limitations include, for example, a limit upon the regulatory authority of governmental agencies based upon constitutional rules and legal standards. Another limitation upon the regulatory authority is the mandate requiring that regulations conform to or not exceed the delegated powers inherent in the originating statute. Finally, governmental agencies are expected to adopt regulations in order to provide a mechanism for understanding, interpreting, enforcing, and overseeing the legislative purpose of a given statute or law.
How Regulations Are Made
Regulations typically emerge following consultation with the various individuals, industries, and institutions that will be affected by the regulations. In fulfillment of these expectations, governmental agencies publish a proposed regulation and then offer a period of time during which interested and affected parties tire given an opportunity to comment on the proposed regulation. Federal agencies must adhere to the Administrative Procedure Act, which mandates the publication of proposed and final regulations or rules in the Federal Register following the provision of notice and the opportunity for interested persons to share their views via written or oral presentation.
At the federal level, the proposed regulation appears in the Federal Register, which is published 5 days a week, while at the state level, the commentary process varies widely and may depend heavily upon which state agency is proposing the regulation. During and following the public commentary period, a proposed regulation may be altered significantly. The final regulation, however, is expected to provide practical guidance to affected individuals and to the public agency responsible for implementing the originating statute. Final regulations issued by federal agencies are published in the Code of Federal Regulations and are arranged by subject. Regulations affecting education can be foundprimarily in Title 34 (Education) of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Even though the definition of regulation is typically broad, this term does not encompass all agency pronouncements. First, courts have determined that federal regulations have the full force and effect of law only when they have been adopted by governmental agencies for the purpose enforcing acts of Congress. Second, courts have repeatedly held that regulations must be filed and published in order to be effective as a matter of law. In theory, however, regulations do not have the effect of law because they are not the work of legislatures. Yet given the practice of judicial review of administrative action, regulations are typically a significant factor influencing the outcome of cases in which regulatory activity is involved.
Legislative efforts to reauthorize existing federal statutes and to adopt new laws are likely to continue. With the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), currently reauthorized as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the legislative and executive branches of government have demonstrated a heightened interest in state and local educational issues. As a result of this interest, federal departments and agencies have issued and continue to issue regulations that directly impact state and local educational agencies.
B. Violation: The Affirmative uses the courts as an actor, that cannot be a regulation
C. Voter for Fairness: Voting issue to preserve limits and negative ground. Allowing the court as an agent explodes the topic by introducing multiple legal grounds to rule upon, makes the topic bidirectional by allowing the court to strike down federal action, and forces us to research an entirely distinct and huge body of legal literature. Courts should be negative ground – it’s the only predictable generic on a regulation topic
T – Regulations Exclude Courts Extensions
Regulations are exclusively agency actions based upon Congressional delegations – reject the broader restriction interpretation which doesn’t reflect a term of art
Ellig, 10 - Dr. Jerry Ellig is a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University (“The Future of Regulation,”
Many times in casual conversation the term ‘regulation’ is used to refer to any restriction imposed by the government that defines certain actions as legal or illegal, but the definition is actually more specific. Regulation occurs when a legislature delegates some of its lawmaking power to a regulatory agency, which then issues detailed rules, the purpose of which is to carry out the intention of the legislature. Regulations are issued by a regulatory agency, with the intention of filling in the gaps in legislation. In the case of federal regulation, it fills in the gaps left by the U.S. Congress.
Two kinds of regulatory agencies exist at the federal level in the United States. Many regulatory agencies are actually part of the executive branch and their top officials are hired and can be fired by the President. These include agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the various agencies that regulate transportation within the Department of Transportation, and any position within a Cabinet department. All these regulatory agencies are directly responsible to the President.
There are also independent regulatory agencies, that is, agencies that are independent of the President, but not independent of Congress. These agencies usually have the word “commission” in their title. The President usually appoints the commissioners, who run these agencies for a fixed term, with the consent of the Senate. The President cannot fire them, and as a result, these agencies tend to function relatively independently of the executive branch. They do not necessarily act independently of Congress, since Congress ultimately approves the budget and writes the laws that the agencies are supposed to implement. Examples of this type of agency are the FCC, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Security and Exchange Commission, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The Federal Reserve is also considered an independent regulatory agency.
The most significant difference between the independent agencies and the executive agencies is that executive agencies are supposed to operate within rules laid out in executive orders. Democratic and Republican administrations issue executive orders and these orders explain how agencies ought to analyze regulations. The White House has the ability to tell these agencies, “No, you can’t issue that regulation, because you haven’t done your homework.” The independent agencies, on the other hand, have not traditionally been subject to that kind of oversight by the White House.
Regulations are made through an organized process. There must be authorization in legislation for a regulatory agency to enact a piece of regulation, and it must be empowered to issue a particular regulation by Congress. The agency must issue any proposed regulation for public comment, and it will take comments on the proposed regulation for an average of sixty to ninety days. It will then rewrite the proposed regulation, and issue its final regulation. The regulation may go through several rounds of proposals and revisions. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reviews regulation produced by executive agencies, both before it is released for comment and before it is officially published. Finally, before any agency publishes a regulation, Congress is able to review that regulation. Although Congress could nullify any regulation at any time, it also has an expedited process for reviewing regulations under the Congressional Review Act. This Act allows Congress the power to quickly veto a proposed regulation or to veto a final regulation after it is published by the passage of a joint resolution by a simple majority.5 The Congressional Review Act has only been invoked once in history.
T – Regulations Exclude Courts Extensions
Our interpretation reflects how federal law defines education regulations – they’re agency actions with a preceding Congressional grant of authority
Kovachevich, 13- * Law Clerk, Hon. Eric N. Vitaliano, Eastern District of New York. J.D., 2013 (Britton, “MAKING IT TO CLASS: SOCIOECONOMIC DIVERSITY AND THE STATUTORY AUTHORITY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION” 16 N.Y.U. J. Legis. & Pub. Pol'y 757, lexis)
The power of the Secretary of Education to pass regulations by notice-and-comment rulemaking is clearly (and sweepingly) laid out in 20 U.S.C. § 1221e-3, which holds that:
The Secretary, in order to carry out functions otherwise vested in the Secretary by law or by delegation of authority pursuant to law, and subject to limitations as may be otherwise imposed by law, is authorized to make, promulgate, issue, rescind, and amend rules and regulations governing the manner of operation of, and governing the applicable programs administered by, the Department. n150
Additionally, the power of law carried by regulations made by the Secretary is clarified in 20 U.S.C. § 1232(a), which states that:
For the purpose of this section, the term "regulation" means any generally applicable rule, regulation, guideline, interpretation, or other requirement that - (1) is prescribed by the Secretary or the Department; and (2) has legally binding effect in connection with, or affecting, the provision of financial assistance under any applicable program. n151
Section 1221e-3 makes clear that the Secretary may regulate under any Congressional grant of authority delegated or assigned to him/her. This includes, I suggest, the authority discussed above, in the DEOA and other pre-DEOA statutes. Section 1232(a) in turn adds that such regulations affecting the provision of federal funds to universities would carry the power of law.
Federal regulation means an agency rule delegated by Congress
Smith, 16- A DISSERTATION in Higher Education Management Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania (Zakiya, “US PRESIDENTS AND STUDENT LOAN POLICY: HOW POLICY THEORY APPLIES ACROSS 20 YEARS OF FEDERAL HIGHER EDUCATION POLICYMAKING” Proquest)
The term ‘regulation’ refers to an official federal rule outlined in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). According to the National Archives, “[t]he Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is an annual codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government” (National Archieves, n.d.). These rules are rooted in laws passed by Congress, but can be updated periodically without new Congressional directive. Regulations are an agency’s interpretation of the law and can be influenced by the presidential administration in power at any given time.