Filters

Date range
  • This house supports the adoption of publicly-triggered recall elections for all elected offices

    Infoslide

    A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of office has ended. This can be done directly, in which the recall is triggered by the public through means such as but not limited to petitions.

    SMU Novice Debating Championships 2025 · Round 2 · 2025-11-01

  • This house would ban prediction markets

    Infoslide

    Prediction markets are online markets that allow visitors to bet money on real-life events (eg. elections, political actions, wars). If their prediction is correct, they receive a monetary reward proportional to the risk of their prediction.

    Costeas-Geitonas School Debate Cup 2025 · Novice Finals · 2025-11-01

  • This house supports video game piracy

    Infoslide

    Video game piracy refers to unauthorized bypassing of video game software. Similar to pirating movies or music, video games are "pirated" through torrenting sites in which users can share and downloaded copyrighted media. Examples of such sites are the piratebay, rutracker, rarbg etc. Additionally to downloading the required files to play the game, game developers employ technolgoies to protect their software from copying (i.e., you cannot copy files and play the game). To circumvent this, pirates include cracking software with the game files allowing those who run cracking software to circumvent the copy protection of thevideo game.

    Erasmus Novice Cup · Round 1 · 2025-11-01

  • This House opposes the classification of revolutionary paramilitary groups as terrorist organizations by governments

    Infoslide

    For the purposes of this debate, revolutionary paramilitary groups are insurgent organizations that use force to achieve their political motives, which often include claims to social justice and self-determination. Examples of revolutionary paramilitary groups include the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) that aimed to establish a socialist state, as well as the Irish Republican Army (IRA) that aspired to end British rule in Northern Ireland.

    University of Western Ontario Fall High School Tournament 2025 · Semifinals · 2025-11-01

  • In constituency electoral systems, This house would require the electoral representatives of a select number of constituencies to be laypeople

    Infoslide

    (i) Under a constituency electoral system, the composition of parliament following a national election depends on the outcome across voting areas (constituencies). Each constituency will have a number of candidates running for office, who may be members of political parties or independent (i.e. not affiliated with any political party). The candidate with the highest number of votes enters office as the electoral representative of that constituency. Examples of countries following the constituency electoral system are the United Kingdom, India, and Malaysia. (ii) For the purposes of the debate, a layperson is defined as an individual with no prior experience in politics (e.g. they have never held office, they have never worked in government).

    DTU Pre-Worlds 2025 · Novice Finals · 2025-11-01

  • This house would abolish conscription in South Korea.

    Infoslide

    In South Korea, conscription has been a legal requirement for all male citizens since 1957. According to the countrie's rules, all men who turn 18 are required to serve in the armed forces for a minimum of 18 to 21 months.

    South Atlantic Debate Championship 2025 · Round 2 · 2025-11-01

  • This house believes that the lottery-and-fee system for employee-sponsored H-1B visas should be replaced with an auction

    Infoslide

    The H-1B visa allows U.S. for-profit employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations requiring at least a bachelor’s degree. Each year, 85,000 new H-1Bs are available, allocated by lottery. The Trump administration has implemented fees of $100,000 on H-1B visas granted to those applying from outside the U.S.

    Yale Intervarsity 2025 · Round 5 · 2025-10-31

  • This House Prefers a world where modern policing follows the “mercenary police model.”

    Infoslide

    Under the mercenary police model, local governments don't hire their own public police forces. Instead, they contract private security firms to perform police functions such as patrolling, investigation, and emergency response.

    Unity Cup 2025 · Round 2 · 2025-10-25

  • This house welcomes the rise of corporate-controlled cities in the Global South

    Infoslide

    Corporate-controlled cities such as private and charter cities are self- governing cities within a developing country where a guarantor, usually by corporations from developed countries, are granted political and economic autonomy. The guarantor controls the city including the creation of legal codes, laws, courts, immigration and economic policies. Examples include Prospera backed by Silicon Valley-based investors in Honduras, Bitcoin City in El Salvador and Silicon Zanzibar in Tanzania

    3rd Visayas Novice Debate Cup · Open Quarterfinals · 2025-10-25

  • This house believes that Singapore should re-introduce the jury system for capital offences

    Infoslide

    For the purposes of this debate, the jury system refers to a sworn body of randomly selected adult citizens (jurors) in criminal courts who are convened to hear evidence, make findings of fact, and render an impartial verdict officially submitted to the court, or to set a penalty for the offender. The jury system was imported into Singapore under colonial rule. In 1960, Singapore restricted jury trial to capital offences (i.e., offences that are punishable by death), and abolished the system altogether in 1970.

    Institution of Business Administration Debating Championship 2025 · Round 4 · 2025-10-24

  • In ageing societies, This house believes that pension funds should invest significant portions of savings in speculative assets (e.g. acquiring equity in hedge funds or private equity firms, trading in financial derivatives).

    Manila Pre-WUDC 2025 · Pre-Quarterfinals · 2025-10-24

  • This house believes that civil action groups should prioritize petitioning the Supreme Court as opposed to pursuing appeals from lower-court cases

    Infoslide

    In most legal systems, a petition and an appeal are distinct processes for bringing a case before the supreme court. An appeal is a continuation of an existing case, where a higher court reviews the legal correctness of a regional court's decision. A petition, in contrast, is a formal request by a certain entity (e.g., civil action groups, corporations, government entities, individuals) for the Supreme Court to choose to hear a new case. While appeal trials are guaranteed to any party who demonstrates credible doubt in the lower court's decision, petitions are not guaranteed to any party; the Supreme Court chooses which petitions to hear.

    Manila Pre-WUDC 2025 · Round 2 · 2025-10-24

  • This house would ban AT1s

    Infoslide

    Additional Tier 1 Contingent Convertibles (AT1s) are bonds issued by banks that pay regular interest but have no fixed maturity. Banks can choose to repay them but are not required to. If the bank’s capital falls below a set threshold or regulators intervene, the bonds convert to equity and may be written off entirely.

    Institution of Business Administration Debating Championship 2025 · Round 3 · 2025-10-24

  • In functional democracies, This house would grant courts the power to bar certain parties and/or candidates from running for office on the basis that them holding office would pose significant threats to democracy.

    Manila Pre-WUDC 2025 · Novice Finals · 2025-10-24

  • This House Believes That JD Vance should trigger the 25th Amendment.

    Infoslide

    Under the 25th Amendment of the US Constitution, if the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet declare the President unfit, the Vice President temporarily becomes Acting President. The President can challenge this by telling Congress he’s able to serve again. If the VP and Cabinet still disagree, Congress must vote—and it takes a two-thirds majority in both houses to keep the VP in power.

    Oxford Charity Open 2025 · Round 2 · 2025-10-19

  • This House, as the journalist, Would take the bribe.

    Infoslide

    You are a journalist living in a democratic state with endemic corruption covering the upcoming elections. A local politician that is known to engage in corrupt actions has approached you to bribe you to focus on his opponents instead of scrutinising his actions. Agreeing to this would ensure a steady source of future funding for your journalistic career.

    Oxford Charity Open 2025 · Gold Final · 2025-10-19