National Tournament Topics 2025

High School Policy Debate

Resolved: The United States federal government should significantly strengthen its protection of domestic intellectual property rights in copyrights, patents, and/or trademarks.

High School Public Forum Debate

Resolved: On balance, in the United States, the benefits of presidential executive orders outweigh the harms.

A total of 986 coaches and 2,749 students voted for the resolution. The winning resolution received 57% of the coach vote and 54% of the student vote.

High School Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Resolved: Violent revolution is a just response to political oppression.

A total of 992 coaches and 2,730 students voted for the resolution. The winning resolution received 38% of the coach vote and 40% of the student vote.

High School Big Questions Debate

Resolved: Creativity is a more powerful force than intelligence.

High School Congressional Debate

Download a packet of potential legislation to be reviewed and ranked by the students who have qualified for the 2025 National Tournament. After their rankings are tabulated, the final docket with 41 pieces of legislation will be posted on May 15. For more information and instructions on how to submit your rankings from April 29 through May 2, please review the first page of the linked packet.

High School World Schools Debate

(listed in round order)

• Rounds 1 and 2: This House regrets the commercialization of single-family homes.
  • • Info Slide: The commercialization of single-family homes refers to the increasing purchase of single-family homes by investors, often with the intent of converting them into long and short term rental properties. 
    • Teams will debate one side of this motion in round 1. They will debate the opposite side of this motion in round 2.

• Round 3: Impromptu
• Round 4: This House, as a social movement, would heavily prioritize boycotts as a preferred tool of dissent. 
• Round 5: Impromptu
• Round 6: Impromptu
• Elim 1: Impromptu
• Elim 2: This House supports the reunification of Ireland.
• Elim 3: Impromptu 
• Elim 4: Impromptu 
• Elim 5: Impromptu 
• Elim 6: Impromptu (if needed)
• Finals: This House regrets the reliance on regional security alliances.

High School International Extemp Topic Areas

To ensure clarity, the 2025 National Tournament will use the United Nations’ Geographic Regions for geography-based topic areas, available here.

(listed in alphabetical order)

• Central Asia and Eastern Asia
• Environmental Issues
• Europe (including Russia)
• Global Human Rights
• International Diplomacy
• International Economics
• Militaries and Armed Conflicts
• Northern Africa and Western Asia
• Northern America and Central America
• South America and the Caribbean
• South-eastern Asia, Southern Asia, and Oceania
• Sub-sahara Africa (Eastern, Middle, Southern, Western Africa)
• The World Next Week

High School United States Extemp Topic Areas

(listed in round order)

• Arts and Entertainment
• Education
• Entitlements and Health Care
• Environment and Energy
• The Executive Branch
• The First Amendment
• The Judicial Branch
• The Legislative Branch
• Science and Technology
• Social Justice
• U.S. Economics and Business
• U.S. Foreign Policy
• The U.S. Next Week

High School Extemporaneous Debate

Tournament officials post the resolution to be debated for each round 30 minutes prior to the start of flight A. Each resolution will address one of the following topic areas (listed in alphabetical order). 

TOPIC AREAS: 
(listed in alphabetical order)

1. Education Policy
2. Environment and Conservation
3. Governmental Structure
4. International Policy
5. Personal Freedom
6. Sports
7. Technology
8. U.S. Politics

High School Extemporaneous Commentary Round Themes

(listed in alphabetical order)

• 100 Years Ago – Major events from 1925
• A Fault in Our Stars – Space technology, science, and exploration
• And We Will All Go Down Together – Natural disasters and their impact
• Children Left Behind – Domestic and international education policy
• Divided We Fall – Discourse, problem-solving, and collaboration
• Fond Farewell – Famous and infamous deaths since the summer of 2024
• Shattering The Glass – Individuals who were the first to break the glass ceiling
• The Good, The Bad, and The AI – Issues related to artificial intelligence

High School Impromptu Round Themes

(listed in alphabetical order)

• American Legend: James Baldwin – Quotations from James Baldwin
• Artificially Intelligent – Prompts related to technology successes and failures
• Family Tree – Prompts related to legacy and nepotism
• H-O-T-T-O-G-O – Prompts related to our changing climate
• Locked In – Prompts related to focus, risk-taking, and stamina
• Native To This Land – Quotations from indigenous leaders
• Oh, the Horror! – Quotations from horror films
• The Wells Fargo Wagon Is A Coming – Prompts related to The Music Man, a musical set in Iowa

High School Storytelling

Students competing in Storytelling may use any theme/topic area.