This year's Policy Debate topic is:
Resolved: The United States federal government should significantly strengthen its protection of domestic intellectual property rights in copyrights, patents, and/or trademarks.
Tri-State Debate League tournaments will have Middle and High School divisions that will have argument constraints limited to the National Debate Coaches Association Novice Policy Debate packet.
Said packed can be downloaded form the button below along with a slower-paced demonstration debate using the Generative AI Affirmative and Case Negative.
Cross-Examination Debate, also known as Policy Debate, is the oldest, most prestigious, and rigorous format of American academic debate. In the past decade or so, the amount of high school debate programs that have abandoned Policy Debate has been staggering and consequently had omitted some of the most important intellectual development opportunities to students. Many programs mention the feeling of lacking resources, coaching, opportunities to compete in Policy Debate, and also the struggle to find quality judging in the northeast.
The Tri-State Debate League is the only local circuit in the New York City metropolitan area that not only offers Cross-Examination Debate at its tournaments, but also provides instruction, materials, and tiered divisions to lower the bar to entry and provide access to the most impactful activity available to young people. In addition to multiple divisions with distinct conditions to foster development, the Tri-State Debate League collaborates with evidence, lesson plans, and even tutorials and sessions at tournaments for debaters and coaches alike.
If you're a New York City area coach looking to start a new team, or run an existing program and would like to add Policy Debate to your listed events for your students, please reach out if you need any assistance!
We're here to help! Be it finding consultant coaches, judges, materials, lesson plans, lectures, evidence or anything else - we're more than willing to aid any school that's interested in enabling their students with the most powerful academic activity available to young people!
As many of the coaches in our community are part of, and even on the Executive Committee, of the National Debate Coaches Association, the Tri-State Debate League strongly encourages joining the NDCA as a method of creating community and professional development.
Schools registered with the NDCA are eligible to attend the NDCA National Championship, this year hosted in Atlanta, Georgia!
To further develop young Cross-Examination debaters, argument constraints for several Middle School and High School Divisions via the NDCA Novice Policy Debate packet, they are as follows:
Middle School Novice &
High School Rookie
Middle School Novice Division (a Middle School Debater in their first year of competition - 8th graders and below are eligible for this division) as well as the High School Rookie Division (a High School Rookie is a 9-12th grader in their first or second tournament ever - a High School Debater in their third tournament must move up to High School Novice divisions) are limited to the entire year to the following NDCA files:
Generative AI Affirmative
Generative AI Case Negative
AI Industry Disadvantage
Court Clog Disadvantage
High School - Novice
& Middle School - Open
The High School Novice Division (a High School Debater in their first year of 9-12th grade debate in their first year of competition), as well as the Middle School Open Division (a Middle School Debater with more than a year of Middle School competition - 8th graders and below are eligible for this division), are limited to the following calendar roll out of these NDCA files:
September and October
Generative AI Affirmative
Generative AI Case Negative
AI Industry Disadvantage
Court Clog Disadvantage
November Additions:
PERA Affirmative
PERA Case Negative
Inflation Disadvantage
December Additions:
SHOP SAFE Affirmative
SHOP SAFE Case Negative
Topicality
January Additions:
Capitalism Kritik
High School Open
The High School Open Division has no argumentative limitations of any variety - including Kritikal Affirmatives and intentionally non/anti-topical arguments.
We will preserve our most experience judges for this division.