NATIONAL DEBATE TOURNAMENT


The 'National Debate Tournament' one of the national championships for collegiate policy debate in the United States. The tournament is sponsored by the American Forensic Association with the Ford Motor Company Fund. Emory University won the 2007 NDT, beating out University of Missouri–Kansas City in the finals.

Contents
History of the NDT
Traditions
External links
Debate Topics
Past Champions

History of the NDT


The 'National Debate Tournament' (NDT) began in 1947 at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Twenty-nine schools competed at the first NDT debating: "Resolved: That labor should be given a direct share in the management of industry". It remained at West Point until 1967 when it was assumed by the American Forensic Association in part because of the Vietnam War.[1] Since then the tournament has moved to different member schools each year and only three schools have hosted it twice. [2]
In the first NDT, teams were nominated by committees from their district. This was soon replaced with district qualifying tournaments. At-large bids were offered beginning in 1968 and in 1971 the rules were amended to assign at large bids prior to district qualifying tournaments (to prevent at-large teams from knocking out teams in qualifiers) Until 1970, a school could only send one team to the NDT. When the rule was changed the tournament quickly grew to 74 teams. Since 1992, a limited number of schools, currently six, have been allowed to send a third team. Today, 78 two-person teams attend the NDT; 16 are selected in the first-round at-large process, 46 through the district selections, and 16 in the second-round at-large process.
Mutual preference judging (MPJ) is a relatively recent addition to the NDT. Under MPJ, each debate team ranks the judging pool according to their preferences and judges are selected such that both teams prefer the chosen judge equally (if possible). Attempts are made to place as many mutual "1"s (the highest rating) in rounds, with preference given to the teams with the best record.

Traditions



★ '"The Big Board"': Started at the first NDT, complete results for each team are listed on the "Big Board" in the central area, horse-race style.

★ 'Orally announcing pairings': Started at the first NDT, the pairings for each round are read out loud to the contestants. The announcements are known for the unusual manner in which they are conveyed. For instance, the announcer might say, "The 51st National Debate Tournament, round the first." This is then followed by the "pairings" of opposing teams, judges, room numbers, and the expected start time. A poll conducted at the 2005 NDT showed strong support for continuing this tradition.

★ 'Cadet escorts': Cadets at the USMA escort debaters to their rounds and carry their tubs. Although this tradition was discontinued when the NDT moved from the USMA, it has reemerged at the regular season tournament hosted by the USMA.

External links



★ National Debate Tournament Home Page

★ 2005 NDT on CSTV
Debate Topics

Academic Year Topic
'1940s'
1946-1947 RESOLVED: That labor should be given a direct share in the management of industry.
1947-1948RESOLVED: That a federal world government should be established.
1948-1949RESOLVED: That the federal government should adopt a policy of equalizing educational opportunity in tax-supported schools by means of annual grants.
1949-1950RESOLVED: That the United States should nationalize the basic nonagricultural industries.
'1950s'
1950-1951RESOLVED: That the non-communist nations should form a new international organization.
1951-1952RESOLVED: That the federal government should adopt a permanent program of wage and price control.
1952-1953RESOLVED: That the Congress of the United States should enact a compulsory fair employment practices law.
1953-1954RESOLVED: That the United States should adopt a policy of free trade.
1954-1955RESOLVED: That the United States should extend diplomatic recognition to the communist government of China.
1955-1956RESOLVED: That the nonagricultural industries should guarantee their employees an annual wage.
1956-1957RESOLVED: That the United States should discontinue direct economic aid to foreign countries.
1957-1958RESOLVED: That the requirement of membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment should be illegal.
1958-1959RESOLVED: That the further development of nuclear weapons should be prohibited by international agreement.
1959-1960RESOLVED: That Congress should be given the power to reverse decisions of the Supreme Court.
'1960s'
1960-1961RESOLVED: That the United States should adopt a program of compulsory health insurance for all citizens.
1961-1962RESOLVED: That labor organizations should be under the jurisdiction of anti-trust legislation.
1962-1963RESOLVED: That the non-communist nations of the world should establish an economic community.
1963-1964RESOLVED: That the federal government should guarantee an opportunity for higher education to all qualified high school graduates.
1964-1965RESOLVED: That the federal government should establish a national program of public work for the unemployed.
1965-1966RESOLVED: That law enforcement agencies in the United States should be given greater freedom in the investigation and prosecution of crime.
1966-1967RESOLVED: That the United States should substantially reduce its foreign policy commitments.
1967-1968RESOLVED: That the federal government should guarantee a minimum annual cash income to all citizens.
1968-1969RESOLVED: That executive control of United States foreign policy should be significantly curtailed.
1969-1970RESOLVED: That the federal government should grant annually a specific percentage of its income tax revenue to the state governments.
'1970s'
1970-1971RESOLVED: That the federal government should adopt a program of compulsory wage and price controls.
1971-1972RESOLVED: That greater controls should be imposed on the gathering and utilization of information about United States citizens by government agencies.
1972-1973RESOLVED: That the federal government should provide a program of comprehensive medical care for all its citizens.
1973-1974RESOLVED: That the federal government should control the supply and utilization of energy in the United States.
1974-1975RESOLVED: That the power of the Presidency should be significantly curtailed.
1975-1976RESOLVED: That the federal government should adopt a comprehensive program to control land use in the United States.
1976-1977RESOLVED: That the federal government should significantly strengthen the guarantee of consumer product safety required of manufacturers.
1977-1978RESOLVED: That the United States law enforcement agencies should be given significantly greater freedom in the investigation and/or prosecution of felony crime.
1978-1979RESOLVED: That the federal government should implement a program which guarantees employment opportunities for all United States citizens in the labor force.
1979-1980RESOLVED: That the federal government should significantly strengthen the regulation of mass media communication in the United States.
'1980s'
1980-1981RESOLVED: That the United States should significantly increase its foreign military commitments.
1981-1982RESOLVED: That the federal government should significantly curtail the powers of the labor unions in the United States.
1982-1983RESOLVED: That all United States military intervention into the internal affairs of any foreign nation or nations in the Western Hemisphere should be prohibited.
1983-1984RESOLVED: That any and all injury resulting from the disposal of hazardous waste in the United States should be the legal responsibility of the producer of that waste.
1984-1985RESOLVED: That the United States federal government should significantly increase exploration and/or development of space beyond the earth's mesosphere.
1985-1986RESOLVED: That more rigorous academic standards should be established for all public elementary and/or secondary schools in the United States in one or more of the following areas: language arts, mathematics, natural sciences.
1986-1987RESOLVED: That one or more presently existing restrictions on First Amendment freedoms of press and/or speech established in one or more federal court decisions should be curtailed or prohibited.
1987-1988RESOLVED: That the United States should reduce substantially its military commitments to NATO member states.
1988-1989RESOLVED: That United States foreign policy toward one or more African nations should be substantially changed.
1989-1990RESOLVED: That the federal government should adopt an energy policy that substantially reduces nonmilitary consumption of fossil fuels in the United States.
'1990s'
1990-1991RESOLVED: That the United States should substantially change its trade policy toward one or more of the following: China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan.
1991-1992RESOLVED: That one or more United States Supreme Court decisions recognizing a federal Constitutional right to privacy should be overruled.
1992-1993RESOLVED: That the United States should substantially change its development and assistance policies toward one or more of the following nations: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.
1993-1994RESOLVED: That the Commander-in-Chief power of the President of the United States should be substantially curtailed.
1994-1995RESOLVED: That the federal government should substantially change rules and/or statues governing criminal procedure in federal courts in one or more of the following areas: pretrial detention, sentencing.
1995-1996RESOLVED: That the United States government should substantially increase its security assistance to one or more of the following: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Palestinian National Authority, Syria.
1996-1997RESOLVED: That the United States Federal Government should increase regulations requiring industries to substantially decrease the domestic emission and/or production of environmental pollutants.
1997-1998RESOLVED: The United States Federal Government should substantially increase its security assistance to one or more of the following Southeast Asian nations: Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.
1998-1999RESOLVED: That the United States Federal Government should amend Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, through legislation, to create additional protections against racial and/or gender discrimination.
1999-2000RESOLVED: That the United States Federal Government should adopt a policy of constructive engagement, including the immediate removal of all or nearly all economic sanctions, with the government(s) of one or more of the following nation-states: Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Syria, North Korea
'2000s'
2000-2001RESOLVED: That the United States Federal Government should substantially increase its development assistance, including increasing government to government assistance, within the Greater Horn of Africa.
2001-2002RESOLVED: That the United States Federal Government should substantially increase federal control throughout Indian Country in one or more of the following areas: child welfare, criminal justice, employment, environmental protection, gaming, resource management, taxation.
2002-2003RESOLVED: That the United States Federal Government should ratify or accede to, and implement, one or more of the following:
★ The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty;
★ The Kyoto Protocol;
★ The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;
★ The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights aiming at the Abolition of the Death Penalty;
★ The Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Strategic Offensive Reductions, if not ratified by the United States.
2003-2004RESOLVED: That the United States Federal Government should enact one or more of the following:
★ Withdrawal of its World Trade Organization complaint against the European Union’s restrictions on genetically modified foods;
★ A substantial increase in its government-to-government economic and/or conflict prevention assistance to Turkey and/or Greece;
★ Full withdrawal from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization;
★ Removal of its barriers to and encouragement of substantial European Union and/or North Atlantic Treaty Organization participation in
★
★ Peacekeeping in Iraq and reconstruction in Iraq;
★
★ Removal of its tactical nuclear weapons from Europe;
★
★ Harmonization of its intellectual property law with the European Union in the area of human DNA sequences;
★
★ Rescission of all or nearly all agriculture subsidy increases in the 2002 Farm Bill.
2004-2005RESOLVED: That the United States Federal Government should establish an energy policy requiring a substantial reduction in the consumption in the total non-governmental consumption of fossil fuels in the United States.
2005-2006RESOLVED: The United States Federal government should substantially increase diplomatic and economic pressure on the People's Republic of China in one or more of the following areas: trade, human rights, weapons nonproliferation, Taiwan.
2006-2007RESOLVED: The United States Supreme Court should overrule one or more of the following decisions: Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 1992); Ex parte Quirin, 317 U.S. 1 (1942); U.S. v. Morrison, 529 U.S.598 (2000); Milliken v. Bradley, 418 U.S. 717 (1974).

Past Champions


Official web page:

★ http://groups.wfu.edu/NDT/

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