Motions & Research
I'm also regularly asked for potential motions. Below you will find a list of potential areas for topics. It's not a definitive list just one to get you started in research.
If you are looking to use the list to set motions for a tournament then take the topic and think about how to apply it. For example the topic of "Trade Unions". Motions start with "This House Would" or "This House Believes" etc "This house regrets" etc This is often shortened to THW... THB.... TH..... So you could set a motion on the lines of "This house would outlaw trade unions in essential services".
In terms of researching these subject areas a quick way to get a good overview is to search for that topic in the BBC website. They often have good topic outlines. Enough to get you into the debate if you wish to do some last minute research. Also http://www.debatabase.org/ is a good resource with printable talking points on many topics.
If you are looking to do some last minute padding of (or creation of) a case file then remember that the key is that you have to know the information is there. You won't have time to read every thing between now and the start of the tournament. Create an index of the topics you have in the file. And it has to be paper based. Worlds rules prohibit the use of electronic equipment.
Finally it is important to understand that no matter how much research you do you will have to debate several topics which you have not prepared for. You can't have covered everything. In a case like this don't panic but go back to the "first principles" post in the training section.
- http://worlddebating.blogspot.com/2009/11/preparing-for-worlds-some-topics.html
Aboriginal justice (e.g. aboriginal community courts)
Aboriginal rights (access to land, language etc)
Adoption (e.g. overseas adoptions, Celebs (Madonna, Elton John)
Afghanistan (e.g. failed democracy and drug production)
Africa and China (partnership or exploitation)
AIDS prevention (e.g. condoms, drug patents)
Anti social behaviour (e.g. ASBOs in UK)
Anti-terror legislation (e.g. patriot act)
Assassination of heads of state
Art, state funding of
Ban hunting (e.g. fox hunting in UK)
Bank Bailouts (UK, Ireland, US, Germany)
Banker Bonuses
Burma (e.g. Aung San Suu Kyi)
Capitalism vs Socialism (e.g. failure of one over the other)
Carbon quotas (National or individual)
CCTV (use of)
Child care (e.g. for working mothers or maternity/paternal leave)
China and Taiwan
Children's rights (e.g. role of state to protect versus role of parents)
Citizen initiated referenda
Citizenship exams
Class action lawsuits (banning them)
Cloning (Animals, Humans etc)
Compulsory ID Cards
Computer Games (e.g. violence in)
Condoms in Pornography
Consensual Cannibalism
Cuba (e.g. sanctions against)
Darfur and Sudan
Death penalty (e.g. US, concept of “redemption”)
Debt forgiveness (nations, IMF, EU fund)
Debt forgiveness (individuals, mortgages etc)
Development Aid (benefit of)
Divorce (access to, Fault vs no fault)
Drugs (legalisation of, war on)
Egypt (e.g. rise of Islamist political parties)
Embryo rights (e.g. right to life, right to implantation, parental rights)
Energy (e.g. generation of, political use (Russian Gas))
Established Journalism vs blogs/podcasts
EU Commission (e.g. election of)
EU Democracy (e.g. Only Ireland held referendum on Lisbon)
EU Expansion
EU Lisbon Treaty/Constitution
EU single working language
European Central Bank (role in national budgets)
EU/US relations (e.g. trade, terror etc)
Euthanasia/right to die
Euro (e.g. Italy/Ireland should abandon, UK should adopt)
Exploration of Space (e.g. Mars, ISS, China)
Extended alcohol drinking licences (e.g. 24 hour pubs)
Face transplants, ethics of
Far Right Parties (access to the Media, BNP)
Freedom of labour movement (e.g. migrant labour in EU)
Freedom of speech (e.g. Muhammad Cartoons, Holocaust Denial, Wikipeadia)
Gay public figures, Outing of
Gay rights (marriage, priests, adoption etc)
Genetically Modified Organisms (e.g. food)
Green Energy (benefits, hype etc)
Graduate taxes (paying for your college education)
Healthcare (e.g. US, cost of, etc)
Honour killings
Human genetics (cloning, stem cells etc)
Human Rights linked to sporting events (e.g. Olympics in China)
Hybrid energy (e.g. hybrid cars)
Illegal Immigration (e.g. into US/Australia/Europe)
International Adoption (e.g. Romanian orphans)
International ban on whaling
International Challenge in business (i.e. industry moving from west to east) AKA "Outsourcing"
International diplomacy (e.g. role of UN, US, EU etc)
International emergency response force (e.g. Tsunami, Earthquake, New Orleans)
International extradition of terrorists (CIA flights to Europe) aka International Rendition
International laws on intellectual property (copyright, patents etc).
Internet music/film Piracy (e.g. Pirate bay etc)
Internet Pornography (e.g. .xxx domain names, child porn)
Internet Privacy (retention of browsing history, e-mails etc)
Internet regulation (ICANN and role of US government)
Iraq, future of
Israel (right to defend itself, settlement building)
Judicial independence (e.g. appointment or removal of a judge)
Korea (North v South relations)
Limit Free speech (e.g. Holocaust denial/incitement of terror/Turkey & Armenia/Thailand Royal family)
Limits to self defence (e.g. right to shoot intruders in your home)
Mandatory minimum sentences (e.g. for drug crimes)
Maritime Law (e.g. flags of convince)
Marriage (e.g. states should only recognise civil partnership)
Medical "fashion" (e.g. hype around Bird Flu, SARS, Swine Flu)
NAFTA (expansion of)
Natural Disasters (international reaction to, Hati, Pakistan, etc)
Nobel Peace Prize (e.g. merit of)
Nuclear Power (e.g. environmental benefits/costs)
Nuclear proliferation/disarmament (e.g. Iran. Khan network)
Obesity in Children
Palestine, future of
Parental consent for medial treatment of under 16s (including seeking an Abortion, obesity, MMR)
Parental responsibility for crimes of children
Parents rights (e.g. father's access to children)
Pensions (e.g make them compulsory)
Performance enhancing drugs in sport
Piracy on the high seas (e.g. Somalia)
Piracy on the Internet (e.g. pirate-bay)
Pollution (e.g. BP oil spill)
Pre-emptive military action (e.g. Israel v Iran)
Prisoners rights (rehabilitation vs punishment, voting rights, standard of care)
Privacy of the Catholic confessional
Privacy online (facebook, google streetview)
Prostitution (e.g. legalisation of)
Public sector vs Private sector (benefits of working in one over the other)
Public vs Private education
Public-Private partnerships (e.g. in infrastructural development)
Reality TV (influence of)
Religious dress in school/work (e.g. Hijab in France, Crucifix in Italy)
Religious education (e.g. what should be taught in state funded schools)
Religious law Vs National Law (e.g. canon law)
Religious sites (location of e.g. WTC Mosque, respect for eg police raids)
Respect for national sovereignty (e.g. in war on terror)
Respecting Ethnic Diversity (Muslims in France, travellers in Ireland, aboriginal populations)
Retirement Age (e.g. raising it to 75)
Rights of minority to homeland (Basque, Kurds etc)
Russia (e.g. economy, democracy)
Salary cap in sport (e.g. English Premiership)
Social Media (youtube, blogging etc)
Social Networking (e.g. facebook, twitter)
Social partnership (e.g. Unions, Government, Employers working together)
Social welfare (% or minimum wage, vouchers vs payments)
State funding for charity (Overseas aid budgets)
State funding for sports
Swine Flu (hype or real risk, government response, vaccination)
Tax incentives for artists
Taxation (what to tax, social contract etc)
Telephone records (e.g. state monitoring private calls)
Term limits for politicians (e.g. Bloomberg in New York)
Terrorism Compensation (e.g. Lockerbie, IRA)
Testing on Animals (drugs, cosmetics etc)
Tibet (Independence, Dali Lama)
Torture (e.g. use of in war on terror, waterboarding)
Trade Unions (e.g. benefits of, dangers of, future)
Traffic problems (e.g. Congestion charges, toll roads, mandatory car pooling etc)
Treatment of addicts (e.g. access to further treatment e.g. transplants)
Truth & reconciliation commissions (South Africa, Ireland etc)
Turkish entry into the EU.
Turkish genocide in Armenia
UN (e.g. reform of)
Vaccination (international programmes, swine flu)
Vegetarianism (benefits of, parents choosing for children)
Voting Rights (e.g. age, convicts, emigrants)
War Crimes Tribunals (Serbia, Karadzic)
Welfare payments (money vs vouchers, work for welfare etc)
Women in politics (e.g. quotas)
Women's rights (e.g. in the Church, workplace, education etc)
WTO Negotiations (e.g. Agricultural subsidies, Tariffs)
Zimbabwe (democracy, constitution, elections)
