NUDC Preparation Case File

“The rule said time for case building is 15 minutes.

In fact it is not 15 minutes. It’s your whole life”

I acknowledge that for most debaters, the problem isn’t the access per se. In a world of internet,
information becomes accessible. The problem is, most debater don’t know what to search for.
This case file template is designed to ask timely questions that may be useful for debating. This
template is constructed by referring to and analyzing motions used in debating competitions
over the last few years. This template is incomplete, many questions that I may not be aware of
are not addressed in this case file. Feel free to download this template.

POLITICS

Democracy

What are the principles of democracy?

Describe: representation, accountability and participation

List various forms of governance used from various countries all around the world
(i.e. absolute monarchy, presidential, parliamentary)

Election

List different forms of election used in different countries

(i.e. Australia, UK, US, Indonesia)

Why do people get votes?

What is the philosophical assumption in ‘one man one vote’?

What are the functions of political parties?

Ideologies

Define the ‘left’ and ‘right’ in political spectrum! What kind of policy does the ‘left’ and ‘right’
prefers?

What is the anti-establishment?

What is the antifa?

Democratization
What is democratization?

What is Arab Spring? How did it start? What are its impact?

What are the prerequisites of democratization?

How does democracy dies?

Public Policy

How does lobbying works?

How do you push for policy changes as citizens?

US Politics

What are the major party in United States Politics? Describe its ideology and history!

How do Congress and Senate differ? When do they work together?

What is ‘primary’?

What is electoral constituencies?

What is ‘gerrymandering’?

INTERNATIONAL RELATION

Perspective and Theory

Define Realism, Liberalism, Constructivism and Marxism perspective in IR

Realism:

What is ‘anarchy’?

What is ‘national interest’?

What is ‘balance of power?

Liberalism:
What is democratic peace theory?

What is commercial liberalism?

What is institutional liberalism?

International Organization:

Why do states join/create international organization?

How an international organization is formed?

What is functionalism?

Constructivism

What is the logic of consequences and what is the logic of appropriateness?

What is the international humanitarian law?

What is jus ad bellum and what is jus in bello?

What are the legitimate military target and what are not?

What are the principle in the use of weapons in war? What type of weapons are already
restricted by IHL treaties?

What is the ICRC?

Marxism in IR

Describe the World System Theory by Immanuel Wallerstein and The Structural Theory of
Imperialism by Johan Galtung

Addition:

What is post-colonialism?

Region

North America

What is NATO? How does it works? Why was it formed?

What is NAFTA?

South America

What is ‘Pink Tide’?

Europe

Brief history of WW I and WW II

Brief history of European Union (EEC, EC, EU)

How does EU parliament works?

What is Brexit? What are the differences between Soft-Brexit and Hard-Brexit?

Middle East

The fall of the Ottoman Empire

History of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Islamic Revolution Iran 1979

History of Israel-Palestine Conflict. What are its possible solution?

East Asia

Brief history of Japan in (World War II and demilitarization, modern Japan)

Korean War 1950

Brief History of China

Why is there no regional organization in East Asia?

South East Asia

Why was ASEAN formed?

What are the pillars of ASEAN community?

Africa
History of colonialism in Africa

Border problems in Africa

What is the African Union?

ECONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT

Economy

What is the ‘invisible hand’?

What is ‘economic interventionism’?

What is ‘Keynesian economics’?

Development Theory

What is ‘modernization’ theory?

What is the ‘dependency’ theory?

What is ‘post-development’ theory?

International Economy

What are the principles of WTO?

What is developmental aid? Why is it given?

What is trade war? How does it work?

Business, Banking & Investment

How do banks works?

What is inflation and how does it happen?

How do central banks control inflation?

What is a ‘fiscal policy’?

How does currency exchange works? What defines its value?

What is ‘shadow bank’?

What is ‘peer to peer lending’?

What is ‘angel investor’?

What is ‘venture capital’?

Current Issues

What is gentrification? What are its forms?

What is “preferential treatment” and its relation with tax?

Labor

What is labor union? How do labor unions work?

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

General
What is the difference between civil law and criminal law?

What is the difference between Common Law and Civi Law system?

Criminal Law

What are the four aims of criminal justice system?

What is ‘mitigating factor’ and ‘aggravating factor’?

What is ‘vicarious liability’?

What is retroactive laws? What are examples of them?

Court system

Explain criminal procedure!

What are ‘juries’? What do they do? What countries use jury trial?
What are ‘judges’? What do they do?

What are the ‘rights of the accused’?

Prisons

What is ‘private prison’?

What are the rights of prisoners?

Other form of justice

What is a ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’?

Business law

What is patent and copyright?

What is the Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS)?

SOCIAL MOVEMENT

What is the function of a social movement?

What are the methods of advocacy used by social movement?

Should social movements involve themselves in political party?

Feminism

What are the goal of feminist movements?

What are the different type of feminist movement? What are their similarities and differences?

LGBTQA++

What is intersectionality?

What are efforts done to reconcile LGBT people with religion?

 MEDIA

How do media companies gain profit?

Should media provide opinions or should it just provides facts?

What is citizen journalism? Is it good/bad?

Should social media be a platform of political discussions?

RELIGION

What is Abrahamic Religion?

What is an organized religion?

What does religious leaders do?

What is open-theism?

What is the ‘separation of church and state’?

Catholicism

Brief history of Catholicism

Who elects the Pope?

What is canonization?

What is ‘virtue of suffering’?

Describe the history of the Crusade!

Islam

The context in which Islam came

What is a ‘Khilafah’?

What is ‘Ijma’ Ulama’?

What is ‘Mufti’?

What is ‘Islam Nusantara’? Who advocated for it?

Atheism

What is a ‘militant atheist’? Who advocated for it?

ENVIRONMENT

What is carbon cap?

What is carbon trade?

What is the Tokyo Protocol?

What is Paris Agreement?

EDUCATION

What is pedagogy?

Why do some schools stream student based on academic performance?

Why is grading students good/bad?

ARTS

Should arts be standardized? What are its pros/cons?

Should arts be used as political tools? What are its pros/cons?

Should arts be monetized? What are its pros/cons?

Should arts be fully funded by government?

SPORTS

What is the UEFA Financial Fair Play?

Should political expressions in sports be allowed? Pros/cons?

 PHILOSOPHY

What is free will?

What is hard determinism?

What is nihilism?

CULTURE
What is culture?

What are its functions?

What are examples of culture that have been criminalized?

What are examples of government efforts to protect culture?

LANGUAGE

What is language?

What are its functions?

How does a language formed?