Three Types of Resolutions

Each resolution should first be analyzed before choosing a framework. Framework is only valuable if you understand the topic and have researched your arguments. Your Framework must fit the topic and your arguments to be useful. Public Forum resolutions tend to fall into three categories: fact based, policy actions, and philosophical. Looking at some topics from 2012, all three types can be found.

Fact Based: January 2012 – Resolved: The costs of a college education outweigh the benefits.
Fact based resolutions ask you to assess the current state of something – in this case, college education. College education is not a policy nor is it an idea; it is an actual “thing,” making this resolution a debate about facts. The verb “outweighs” asks you to compare and the “costs” and “benefits” of the thing “college education.”

Policy Action: March 2012 – Resolved: The United States should suspend all assistance to Pakistan.
Policy Action resolutions are easily identifiable for two main components: an actor and an action. The actor here is the United States while the action is “suspend all assistance to Pakistan.” The verb “should” asks the debate to say yes or no to the policy action.

Philosophical: October 2012 – Resolved: Developed countries have a moral obligation to mitigate the effects of climate change.
This resolution may look like a policy action topic because it has an actor “developed countries” and an action “mitigate the effects of climate change.” It is a philosophical resolution, however, because it is not a yes or no question being posed. The topic asks about “a moral obligation” to act, therefore asking the debaters to assess the ideological/philosophical grounds behind the policy.