National Speech and Debate Tournament
2022 — Louisville, KY/US
Elise Matton Paradigm
Policy
Policy Debate Judge Philosophy
Your experience with Policy Debate (check all that apply)
Coach of a teamPolicy debater in high school
Occasionally judge Policy Debate
How many Policy rounds have you judged this year?
11-20Which best describes your approach to judging Policy Debate?
Tabula rasaRATE OF DELIVERY
7/91 = slow and deliberate9 = very rapid
QUANTITY OF ARGUMENTS
4/91 = a few well-developed arguments9 = the more arguments the better
COMMUNICATION AND ISSUES
7/91 = communication skills most important9 = resolving substantive issues most important
TOPICALITY: I am willing to vote on topicality:
5/91 = often9 = rarely
COUNTERPLANS
1/91 = acceptable9 = unacceptable
GENERIC DISADVANTAGES
2/91 = acceptable9 = unacceptable
CONDITIONAL NEGATIVE POSITIONS
2/91 = acceptable9 = unacceptable
DEBATE THEORY ARGUMENTS
3/91 = acceptable9 = unacceptable
CRITIQUE (KRITIK) ARGUMENTS
1/91 = acceptable9 = unacceptable
I am familiar with most of the national circuit norms in policy debate, but I also know that those vary widely from state to state and district to district.
I believe it is important that debaters do their best to adapt to one another and take the varied approaches and stylistic preferences that competitors are exposed to in their various circuits into account when competing and developing their strategies. For example, if you are particularly "fast" in your rate of delivery, please do your best to slow down AT LEAST on taglines/authors for competitors and judges who are not used to or comfortable with that practice. The same is true for progressive jargon- I personally do not care when it is used, but at NSDA Nationals I believe it's even more important to ensure that everyone is able to access the arguments as they are developed!
Feel free to use the styles you are accustomed to, but make an effort to provide clarity when necessary. My last note is that I wound up judging rounds significantly less often this past year, so I am way less familiar with the topic, stock affs and strats, etc, than I have been in years past. Thanks and hope everyone has a great National Tournament experience!
Note: if you wish for your pronouns to appear the debaters you judge on text/email blasts, log into Tabroom, click Profile at top, and add them in the Pronouns field.