Past Resolutions and Tournaments by JDA

compiled by Narahiko Inoue (inouen@rc.kyushu-u.ac.jp)

This is a partial list of propositions used in English debate contests for college students in Japan. The list is compiled from pamphlets of the contests, most of which list the propositions of the past contests. It is also supplanted by the lists of propositions in Matsumoto (1982) and Nakamura (1982). Given in the parentheses at the end of a proposition is the name of the contest whose pamphlet on which the proposition appeared. This does not mean that the particular topic was used only by that named contest. In cases where the proposition is taken from pamphlets, I tried to preserve the original punctuation and capitalization. This does not necessarily mean that the proposition appeared as it is in all the contests of that season; different contests and even different rounds may have used different punctuation and capitalization intentionally or unintentionally.

IEC (International Education Center), which has been hosting intercollegiate tournaments since 1950, is not a student-run organization. It is a privately funded organization offering various services including language programs and speech contests.

Since 1986, the Japan Debate Conference (renamed Japan Debate Association in 1992) has been announcing “recommended” propositions, which have been used by almost all the tournaments. Those propositions are indicated as (JDC) or (JDA).