Whether it is laws, regulations, court decisions, or government spending, public policy defines the way we live and work. It governs all aspects of society from education, to employment, to business and finance. Government policy has a profound effect on our lives and is shaped by a number of factors, including the stance of the political party in power, social and economic conditions, prevailing political values, the public’s mood and the structure of government.
As a result, debaters should take the time to understand and analyze the complex nature of government policy. Whether they are advocating for specific policies or simply wanting to make their arguments more persuasive, debaters must be able to interpret the research that is available and clearly connect it to their policy advice.
The most important element of policy analysis is examining the implications of your research. Describe the potential effects that your policy recommendations could have on real people. This will allow your argument to move beyond being descriptive and will give it credibility by demonstrating that your recommendations are practical, viable, and attainable.
On the affirmative side, debaters will find a wide array of policy areas that can be explored, such as: weapon use (WMD), immigration, granting more authority to judges over the executive branch (counterplans), and the amount of tax cuts given by Presidents (taxation). The negative side offers plenty of options too: defunding a specific program, expanding Medicaid, reducing welfare benefits, or limiting the number of refugees allowed into the country (immigration). As always, the best debaters are those who can build comprehensive arguments that utilize evidence from both sides of the table to show how their position on a particular issue is the most effective.
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