The question arises, often within rounds, as to what, exactly, are the rules of LD. In fact, sometimes the question is raised whether there are any rules at all. There is occasionally even a hint of the idea that there shouldn’t be any rules, as this somehow limits the reach of the activity. The VCA knows where I stand on these questions, but it may not be a bad idea to review things as we begin debating the topic that will be haunting some of us up all the way up through TOC. (And by the way, those who still haven’t bought into the Modest Novice must at least admit that the idea of a longer term resolution is already walking amongst us thanks to TOC and Jan-Feb…)
First of all, we need to establish not the rules, but the source of rules, if any. That is, if we can locate an oracle, we don’t have to do our own divination. I would suggest that the National Forensic League is the de facto source of the rules of the activity. I am not being coy, here, because once we accept that the NFL has ruling authority over the activity, then we must accept their rules; that’s what ruling authority means. So the first question is, does the NFL have ruling authority over the activity? From any perspective, the starting point has to be that they invented the activity. LD was designed by and disseminated by the NFL as an official activity of their organization. Certainly individuals argued one-on-one prior to the creation of LD, and perhaps even participated in ad hoc academic debating sessions, but LD, with its timings, ballots and the like, came from the NFL. They can claim paternity.
Secondly, NFL provides the ongoing resolutions for the activity. Although occasionally we veer from their specifics, running cases slightly out of sync with their designated monthly timings (TOC and Jan-Feb, for instance), we generally accept their resolutions throughout the year. Even when we don’t like the wording, tournaments don’t to my knowledge announce that they will run the resolution but worded differently. The resolution is what the resolution is. Nothing stops tournaments from posting their own resolutions (Big Bronx used to, as did NY State Finals, as does CatNats still), but in general, we accede to the NFL’s authority in this area.
Thirdly, most students who debate in an official academic capacity do so as members of the NFL. While certainly there are debates out there in the odd class or even extramural situation that are not NFL, which by their nature they are not concerned with NFL resolutions, the vast majority of academic debate is, indeed, conducted by NFL members.
If I am a dues-paying member of a group, debating an activity designed by that group, and specifically arguing a resolution posted by that group, I have to believe that I have demonstrated a de facto submission to the authority of that group regarding that activity. This does not say that I have to agree that all the exercise of that authority is good or correct; I am entitled to my opinions, which I don’t sign away when I receive that certificate from Wisconsin with my name on it. I don’t have to agree that all the laws of the US are good or correct either, but nonetheless I have to obey them, or suffer the consequences. That’s the way it is with ruling authorities.
So the next question is, what rules, exactly, has NFL established?
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