Introduction to policy debates

Example Solutions

NITA RAO: We support the legalisation of all recreational drugs in all countries. By recreational drugs, we mean drugs such as heroin, cocaine and amphetamines – drugs that are used for pleasure, rather than as medicine. Any person over the age of 18 should be able to use these drugs.

We would regulate the sale of these drugs. Drugs will only be sold at licensed stores. There will be limits as to the amount of any drug that can be bought. There will also be strict regulations to ensure that the drugs sold are pure and of the right quality. Finally, we will give users information with every purchase about how to use the drug safely and what to do in case of emergency.

KIRAN IYER: All countries that have abolished the death penalty should reintroduce it immediately. That includes countries as diverse as Australia, Spain, South Africa and Mexico.

The death penalty should be used for the most serious occurrences of the most serious crimes, like rape and murder. It should only be used when the crime is unusually terrible or where the offender has shown no remorse. There should be a proper investigation and trial before anyone is sentenced to death. A jury of 12 persons must all agree that the death penalty is the right punishment. The offender should have the right to appeal against the sentence.

When the death penalty is imposed, it should occur as humanely as possible. We would support whatever method of death that causes the least amount of pain to the offender, be it lethal injection or firing squad.

Introduction to policy debates

Options for the Opposition

VICTOR FINKEL: So far in this lesson, we have focused on what the Proposition team should do in approaching a policy debate – identify the problems with the status quo and then propose a solution that responds to these problems.

On the Opposition side, it is also critical to consider what the problem and solution are. As the Opposition, you have a choice to make about how you are going to respond. You have three main options: (1) denying the existence of the problem; (2) accepting the problem, but proposing a counter-solution; and (3) accepting the problem but arguing that the solution proposed by the affirmative is worse than the status quo.

Let’s look at each of these three choices in turn. The first approach is to deny the existence of the problem. So in the debate about prostitution, this would mean saying that there are no problems with legalised prostitution.

The danger with using this approach as the basis of your entire case is that it’s generally unlikely that a topic will be set where there aren’t any problems in society. Indeed, if this is all you do in your case, but the judge is still persuaded at the end that there’s a little bit of a problem, you’ll struggle to win.

That being said, it can be very powerful to try to minimise the extent of the problem – to show it’s not as serious as the opposition made out. So in the prostitution debate, you might accept that there are some problems, but emphasise that for many prostitutes these negative consequences don’t come to pass.

The second approach is to accept the problem but propose a counter-solution. So in the debate about prostitution, you’d say, yes there are very serious problems with prostitution, but a better approach than a ban is to regulate it differently and more compassionately. That may involve more steps to ensure that people who become prostitutes are not being exploited and having better procedures for the reporting of sexual assaults.

The third and final approach is to accept the problem but argue that the solution proposed by the affirmative is worse than the status quo. You might say that although prostitution has some harmful consequences, legalisation under the status quo is still better than the alternative of an outright ban. You might argue that a ban would drive the practice underground and make it even harder to find out when prostitutes are being exploited and harmed, and help them.

So the first approach, simply denying the problem, is rarely going to be effective. Both the second and third approaches can be effective, depending on the topic. Have a try at using each of these in the exercise below.