Welcome to Introduction to Policy Debate

Blue Book Curriculum: NCFCA Edition, Assignment #1

Due: Week 2

Name: ______Date:______

Read Blue Book Chapter 1-3. Answer the following questions in the space provided.

1. Which speaker did you think you would be (both Aff and Neg)? After reading Chapter 2, did your opinion change at all?

2. Match the following duties with one of the following speakers: 1A, 2A, 1N, 2N.

____ a) Deliver the Affirmative Case

____ b) Answer the 1A’s cross-examination.

____ c) Cross-examine the 2NC.

____ d) Cross-examine the 2AC.

____ e) Deliver the 2nd Affirmative Constructive.

____ f) Answer the first CX from the Negative Team

____ g) Deliver the 1st Negative Constructive.

____ h) Deliver the 2nd Negative Rebuttal.

____ i) Answer cross-examination from the 2AC.

____ j) Deliver the 1st Affirmative Rebuttal.

____ k) Deliver the 2nd Negative Constructive.

____ l) Deliver the 2nd Affirmative Rebuttal.

____ m) Deliver the 1st Negative Rebuttal.

____ n) Cross-examine the 1AC.

____ o) Prepare CX questions for he first Negative speaker

____ p) Answer the second cross-examination from the affirmative team.

3. Why does the Affirmative team get the first and last word in the debate round?

4. What is the “negative block”? How are negative teams supposed to divide the labor between the 2NC and 1NR?

5. Circle the speaker position and in the space following, explain why this position is best for you.

1A or 2A:

1N or 2N:

ACTIVITY:
Take the time to register for Google News Alerts. This is an easy way for you to be notified of current events that happen surrounding federal election law. Follow these steps:

a)Make sure you are logged into their Google account.

b)Go to

c)Type in search terms that are appropriate to the year’s topic.

d)Select the criterion you would like to receive email notifications.

In the space below, list the search terms you used for federal election law. Be ready to share these with class next week.

Blue Book Curriculum: NCFCA Edition, Assignment #2

Due: Week 3

Name: ______Date:______

Read Blue Book Chapter 4. Answer the following questions in the space provided.

1. Define “topicality” =

Consider this year’s NCFCA resolution on federal election law. What would be an example of a policy change that would not be topical to the resolution, but may sound like a topical resolution?

2. Define “significance” =

Of the news issues that you’ve been reading about from your Google News Alerts, what are some policy concerns you would consider insignificant?

3. Define “inherency” =

4. Define “solvency” =

In your own words, explain why solvency is the easiest stock issue to win on in a debate round.

5. Define “disadvantage” =

Consider one of the news items you have been discussing in class. Explain a proposed solution to the news item and a possible disadvantage to the proposal.

6. Define “Minor Repair” =

Read Blue Book Case #1, “Siren Song: The Case for Repealing the 17th Amendment.” You may want to read the accompanying summary in Chapter 8 to familiarize yourself with the case. This is a good practice to apply for all the case studies. Answer the following questions.

A. How did the 17th Amendment to the Constitution change the way Senators were sent to Washington?

B. List the reasons why the Constitution was amended in 1913 with the 17th Amendment. Do you think this was a wise move for America?

ACTIVITY:
Next week we will be venturing into evidence. In one of the articles you read this week, attempt to cut a card that is similar to the cards in the case you just read. Bring it to class next week.

Blue Book Curriculum: NCFCA Edition, Assignment #3

Due: Week 4

Name: ______Date:______

Read Blue Book Chapter 5 and 6, the history and status quo chapters.

1. Memorize NCFCA’s team-policy resolution. Be able to recite it from memory in class. Your coach and your classmates will expect this from you.

2. When was the first democracy born, and where did it happen? Shortly afterward, another form of government formed in Rome. What was that called?

3. What were the Articles of Confederation? How did they help during the first years of the United States?

4. What did the 14th Amendment to the Constitution change? What did the 14th Amendment change? What did the 17th Amendment change?

5. Women were allowed to vote after the passing of the 19th Amendment, and younger people (from 21 to 18) with the 26th Amendment. To this day, felons, DC citizens, and children are not allowed to vote. Answers will vary if this is okay or not, which includes some of the debate cases in Blue Book.

6. When a citizen eligible to vote votes for President of the United States, how is their vote counted? What does this method of counting allow as a remote possibility? How many times has this happened in US history?

7. Explain in your own words what gerrymandering is. Explain the difference between “cracking” and “packing.”

8. Voter ID laws require photo IDs to register to vote. Why do some people think this is unfair to the system? Do you think it’s unfair?

9. Illegal immigrants are forbidden by law to vote, but they still influence elections. How? What solution does Blue Book offer to solve this problem?

10. Which two states are the two that, some argue, are who essentially decide whom to run for president? What are some of the solutions to solve this problem?

Read Blue Book Case #2, “How Much Is That Congressman in the Window: The Case for Reversing Citizens United.”

A. The amount of money donated by big companies to run ads that sway elections has been capped for years, but what happened in 2010 that allowed it?

B. Do you believe this corrupts elections? How does Blue Book solve for the change?

Blue Book Curriculum: NCFCA Edition, Assignment #4

Due: Week 5

Name: ______Date:______

Read Blue Book Chapter 7.

1. Of the following scenarios, list as (A) fraudulent, (B) legitimate, or (C) questionable.

_____ a.You find a piece of evidence that is rather old (1998), but you are certain a piece of evidence exists somewhere that is more recent that says the same thing. You read it when searching last week, but now you are not able to find it. Rather than waste any more time, you simply change the card you have from 1998 to 2008.

_____ b.You write a case with the criterion of “Financial Viability.” A case that is financially viable is a case worth passing, you argue. You have a piece of solvency evidence that comes very close to making this conclusion. Inserting the prepositional phrase “with financial viability” would make it perfect, but you know that would be fraudulent. Instead, you place the phrase with brackets around it: [with financial viability].

_____ c.You pull together a piece of evidence from a chapter of a book. The parts you would like to read in a round are from the beginning of the chapter and the end, with a lot of needless data in between. Rather than type out the entire chapter and underline the beginning and the end, you merge the two parts with an ellipses (...).

_____ d.You find a piece of evidence from a website that has no date affixed to it. You place the day you accessed it on the citation of the card.

_____ e.You need a card that shows the US is behind the times when compared to Europe. You find a website that shows this in a chart that compares US policies with other countries, and on the same site (different page) shows the cost of the policy is, in fact, higher than most other countries. You combine the data from the two charts with a tag line, “US policies cost more than most other countries.” Everything is fully cited and links to both web pages are in the citation.

_____ f.You use a card from a brief that you received online from another debater. The opposing team makes the claim that it is a fraudulent piece of evidence and turns it in to tournament adjudication. It turns out the evidence is fraudulent. Is this technically fraudulent when you did not write it?

2. Is it possible to unintentionally run fraudulent evidence? Can you be penalized in a tournament even though my fraudulent evidence was not intentional? Whose responsibility is it to make sure your evidence is legitimate?

Read two Blue Book Cases #3 and #4 and answer the following questions.

Let There Be Light: The Case for the Disclose Act
Full House: The Case for D.C. Representation

A. What is “dark spending” and how does it corrupt elections? How does the DISCLOSE Act solve for this?

B. There are several negative rebuttals to the DISCLOSE Act. Which is the main philosophical rebuttal? Do you agree?

C. Why doesn’t Washington D.C. have a representative in the House of Representatives? Was this what the Founding Fathers intended?

D. What are the reasons given to keep D.C. from having representation in the House?

ACTIVITY: Writing a Case Outline
Use another piece of paper to answer the following questions.

1. List as much harm as you can that show the effects of the status quo. Write these harms in such a way that they will lead to the topic (or plan) you will want to propose. (Refer to the evidence you have been gathering from your news discussions.)

2. How or why are these harms significant?

3. Why are these harms not able to be solved in the status quo? Or, why is a “substantial change” needed in the status quo to solve these problems?

4. What plan do you propose to solve these harms?

5. List the ways this plan solves the problems you listed in question #1.

Assignment Analysis

You have filled in the blanks of a traditional affirmative case. Bring this to class ready to explain it to the others in your club. While these blanks did not provide room to fill in with evidence, be prepared to defend your “case” with pieces of evidence you find in Blue Book or evidence found independently.

Blue Book Curriculum: NCFCA Edition, Assignment #5

Due: Week 6

Name: ______Date:______

Write your case

Monument Publishing provides free templates of debate case formats, one being the “Traditional Affirmative Case Template.” (See ). Using the data you put together for last week’s assignment, write your case in this template. When finished, share it with your coach by printing a copy to bring to class.

Read Blue Book Cases #5 and #6 and answer the following questions.

Vox Populi: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College
Count Me Out: The Case for the Fair and Accurate Representation Act (FARA)

A. People tend to think that the Founder’s solution to count slaves as 3/5 of a person was racist, but how did it prolong the institution of slavery?

B. Should Negatives concede that the Electoral College is racist? What other reasons are there for keeping the Electoral College system?

C. Why do states like California and Texas like the way the census counts people? Why do states like Montana and Louisiana not?

D.How does FARA make representation fairer for federal elections?

ACTIVITY:
In our club, integrity of evidence is expected. There will be no excuse for fraudulent evidence used in a debate round. You vow here that, if ever discovered with fraudulent evidence, whether intentional or not, that you will apologize to those you offended (tournament directors, coaches, opponents, etc.) and take the consequences without complaint or malice.

Signed: ______Date: ______

Blue Book Curriculum: NCFCA Edition, Assignment #6

Due: Week 7

Name: ______Date:______

Getting Ready for Affirmative

1. You and your partner are ready to go Affirmative. Decide who will be 1A and who will be 2A.

“I will be ______(1A or 2A) for the next tournament.”

In your own words, explain what your affirmative responsibility will be:

2. Each of you have one case. Discuss the case you would like to run at the next tournament. Which case will it be?

3. 1A: Type the case up neatly for review by your coach. Read the case aloud to make sure it is possible to read within 8 minutes.
2A: Prepare 2A evidence briefs for your 2AC. Practice reading these aloud and pretend you are responding to the 1NC.

Read Blue Book Cases #7 and #8 and answer the following questions.
Note: There is a typo in the case summaries of Blue Book. Case #7 is incorrectly slotted as Case #11. To keep things in order, consider Case #7 in the summaries Case #12 instead.

The Case for Felon Re-Enfranchisement
The Case for Presidential Primary Reform

A. How many felons — even after being released from their prison sentence — are not allowed to vote in federal elections? Do you think they should be allowed?

B. There are two reasons proposed that allowing felons to vote is a good thing. What are those two reasons?

C. How does the current primary process disenfranchise 98% of voters? What is the process of declared a front-runner so early called?

D. What is the solution proposed to the current primary process? Do you think this will solve the problem, or will it make it worse?

Blue Book Curriculum: NCFCA Edition, Assignment #7

Due: Week 8

Name: ______Date:______

Summary of this assignment

It is time to switch hats a bit and play the Negative. First, you will read up on developing a negative strategy. Second, you will make the best case against your case as possible. Finally, you will create extension arguments to defend the best negative attacks you can come up with.

Read Keys to Team-Policy Debate Chapter 13 “Key #13: Never Stop Negative Briefing.”

1. Does your case make the mistake of assuming significance? How can your case be strengthened to prove significance?

2. Are there policies in the status quo that are already in existence that are similar to your case? (Inherency)

3. What are some typical disadvantages that could be run against your plan?

4. Consider the solvency claims in your case. Do these claims appeal to expert witnesses, pilot projects, or history?

5. Are there topicality arguments that can be run against your case? Explain them.

6. What alternatives—either minor repairs or counterplans—can be implemented to take the fire out of your case?

7. Find negative briefs to your case in Blue Book downloadable briefs. How can you counter these briefs if met up in a debate round?

8. Practice pulling negative briefs by hearing an Affirmative case (coach can help drill you) and then pulling negative briefs to create a negative philosophy against those cases.

Strategies for Negative Briefs

There are many methods for writing negative briefs. Coach Trefethen writes them by collaborating stacks of evidence that argue stock issues against common cases. Being that you already brainstormed some negative attacks in the previous pages, you are now going to prepare negative briefs against your case. This system for preparing negative briefs will be used for other debate cases.

In summary, you will zero in on your harms, develop a list of negative cross-examination questions you’d ask yourself, and you will attempt to prove this harm wrong. Your brief should have as much evidence as possible with as many arguments as possible. You also should be able to find evidence, since you already know so much about your topic. The brief can be used in an actual debate round, and you can cut back parts of it if you need to.

Read the Negative Brief against one of the cases we have already studied in class. Read this brief pretending you are preparing to negate this case in a debate round. Prepare a series of CX questions that you will ask after the 1AC.

Using the same format, write a brief attacking your own case. Remember, play the Negative side, in that you do your best to penetrate your own case. Pretend you are cross-examining yourself and ask questions that will stump you.

For next week: At least one of you (you or your partner) should have all the 2A and negative briefs from Blue Book digital copy printed and 3-hole punched for your binders.

Read Blue Book Case #9 and answer the following questions.

A Question of Balance: The Case for Proportional Representation

A.Is it true to say that Representatives are elected by who gets the most votes? What is this problem popularly called?

B. Explain how Proportional Representation works. Do you believe this is a good solution?

Blue Book Curriculum: NCFCA Edition, Assignment #8

Due: Week 9

Name: ______Date:______

This week’s assignment has to do with developing a method for categorizing and organizing research. There are many different ways to organize research. Some use tote boxes and stack them up on a dolly; others use simple 3-ring binders that can fit in a briefcase; Coach Vance likes to reminisce about the “old days” (a.k.a. before computers) when evidence was handwritten on 3x5 index cards. Truth be known, there is no right or wrong way to filing the evidence, as long as the following principle is kept: retrieval is the reason for filing, NOT filing. Many a round is lost not because the debate team doesn’t have the evidence, but because the team couldn’t retrieve it in a moment’s notice.