Debate is a competitive event. Committed debaters attend many tournaments during the year, and some even attend debate camps during the summer. A few weeks before a tournament debaters are given a statement. This statement will differ depending on the league in which that particular debater debates. This statement is called the resolution. The NFL (National Forensics League) releases one resolution every two months. Some states have separate leagues that release topics at different times. For example, the UIL (University Interscholastic League) in Texas releases LD topics twice a year. An example of a topic, or resolution, is Resolved: Random testing of student athletes for illegal drug use is justified.

 Every resolution has two purposes. First, the obvious purpose is to give a debater a heads-up about what he or she will be debating. Next, a resolution allocates ground between the two opponents in a debate round. Ground is an important concept (especially for the advanced debater) and is a word that describes the equitable distribution of debatable area within any given topic. One example of a topic that does not distribute ground equally is Resolved: Killing cute little puppies for fun is moral. It would be unfair for any debater that was designated to agree with this resolution because that debater could never win (or at the very least would be at a great disadvantage). Resolutions are written in such a way that each debater should have an equal opportunity to win. That way, the winner of the round will be the debater with the best ability rather than the one who got lucky and was able to debate the “easy side”. Having a resolution without equally distributed ground is like trying to debate a question of fact: the round is decided on the basis of who draws the “good side” rather than who has done the most research or developed the most skill.

The special format used for arguments is called a case. This case, much like the type that a lawyer would make, outlines all of the assets of your side and points out the faults of the other side. It will also establish the limits of the resolution with definitions. Defining words in the resolution is an important duty that many debaters overlook. Definitions work to equally distribute ground between the two competitors. 

After all the preliminary writing and researching is done, you will be ready to debate a real round. This does not entail two people yelling arguments at each other Jerry Springer style, as many might imagine. In fact, debate differs from an argument in three very distinct ways. First, there is no dialogue – or discussion – between a debater and her opponent. In fact, very little confrontation is involved. Only a period of six minutes (two three- minute slots) of cross-examination time is spent talking to one another. Next, each debate is strictly structured. Debaters cannot talk any time they want to. Each debater is allocated a specific number of minutes at specific times during the debate round. Last, a debater will never convince her opponent that her side is best. Unlike an argument where an individual can compromise or even convince the other person, in a debate round a debater cannot compromise or be convinced of the other debater’s argument – that debater would automatically lose because he or she would no longer be arguing for his or her side of the resolution.