Split (1)

test · 3.68k rows

query stringlengths 3 5.5k	positive list	negative list
The economic case for expansion does not add up A study conducted by the NEF revealed that the cost of expansion will outweigh the benefits by at least £5billion. [1] London has six airports and seven runways meaning that London already has the best connections globally. Together, London airports have a greater number...	[ "economy general environment climate environment general pollution house would London has a lot of runways in total because it has a lot of airports however Heathrow is the only one that has the benefit of being a hub airport as each of these existing airports only have one or two runways. Suggestions that short ha...	[ "High Speed rail is unlikely to work in the same way as air travel. Whilst some areas are more convenient, it remains a slower method of transport than air travel and with quoted prices for high speed rail it seems evident that the majority of consumers will simply continue to opt for air travel as it is a signific...
Achievements should be earned not given There is a great possibility that beneficiaries of positive discrimination may not be regarded as good role models as their achievements may be viewed as unearned. [1] A role model is someone others can look up to and admire for the things they achieved through hard work and tal...	[ "niversity philosophy political philosophy minorities house would use positive By having more students from disadvantaged backgrounds get into university and ultimately have access to top professions, and more likely to enter politics, law, or become the heads of major corporations, affirmative action will generate...	[ "eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity Seeing a politician put on trial hurts the integrity of their office. It does tremendous damage to the public perception of a given political position to see the holder of that position on trial for criminal acts. Politicians are importa...
Allowing this motion would lead to a miscarriage of justice. This motion removes the incentive for police to conduct vigorous investigations. Given the increasing pressure on policemen and women to gain convictions [1] , this motion will mean that their best chance of obtaining those convictions is simply to accuse th...	[ "crime policing law general punishment society house would disclose previous This point places too much importance on the defendant’s history. In any case, records of their previous convictions must be heard alongside of the facts of the primary crime; any history will always be tempered by discussion of the actual...	[ "law general house would place cameras courtrooms televise court cases This turns court cases into entertainment, rather than legitimate legal proceedings. Several television shows, such as ‘Judge Judy’, assert the style of a legal courtroom [1] . These shows are based on entertainment value from scrutinising the ...
Regardless of the views expressed, freedom of speech means that all opinions should be heard. Allowing politicians to regulate what it is acceptable to say – or think – is not something that has a happy history. This isn’t the result of a purely intellectual construct but one of altruistic self-interest; once people s...	[ "living difference house would penalise religious hate speech It is simply unfair to ask people to be the victims in a societal experiment on the basis that it will all be okay in the end. In a context like this the language used is not only offensive but also threatening. This legislation may not be great constitu...	[ "The state should keep alcohol legal in order to maximize citizens’ rights. Governments are not there to be the mothers of citizens, but should allow people to freely live their lives as long as they do not hurt others. A government might have the wish to build a society that is obedient, productive and without f...
The people are interested in the health of their leader The health of the leader of the state is an issue that the people and the media inevitably want to know about. There will always be a lot of interest in it. Occasionally this can be played by the administration as with Kissinger saying he was ill and using time t...	[ "free speech and privacy health general international africa politics The media always want a good story; they are interested in the health of celebrities when there is no clear reason why they should have any right to this private information. The health of the leader is not something that the press or public need...	[ "free speech and privacy health general international africa politics Denial of privacy to the leaders The leaders of states deserve privacy in exactly the same way as anyone else. Just like their citizens leaders want and deserve privacy and it would be unfair for everyone to know about their health. Leaders may ...
Invoking public reaction can damage the lives of those concerned in the court case. Proposition may well argue that televising court cases gains a sense of ‘sympathy’ and justice for the victims of the case. However, this is double-edged. Firstly, particularly emotive and controversial court cases concerning crimes su...	[ "law general house would place cameras courtrooms televise court cases Withholding video evidence of a court trial will not stop people from automatically siding with the victim and denouncing the accused; it will just stop them from being able to see the body language and other actions which can balance out the me...	[ "Reporting on violent crimes compromises the integrity and fairness of law Judges and juries have to be neutral when they preside in court, and no bias can enter the court’s discourse and deliberation if justice is to be done. This is especially true of violent crime, for two reasons. First, in such cases, the cou...
School's duty of care Peer pressure drives most drug use among children and teenagers. [1] The fact that the state requires all children to be engaged in education means that most of them will be gathered into large groups in schools for most of the day, five days a week, essentially creating the necessary conditions ...	[ "education general secondary crime policing house supports random drug testing None of these benefits apply if the peer pressure simply switches to harder drugs which are harder to test for or less likely to be tested for. Moreover, peer pressure can exist outside of schools, and amongst older teenagers who have t...	[ "th law crime policing law general house would fund needle exchanges Creating needle exchange may normalise drug-taking behaviour Needle exchanges increase drug use. The state implicitly accepts that drug use is an acceptable practice when it aids drug users in practicing their habit. As such drug users feel less ...
A UN standing army would be ideally suited to respond to contemporary crises. Changes in modern warfare dictate the need for an impartial, rapidly-deploying, multi-national force. Modern warfare is no longer the trench battles of battalions aligned to a flag, it is increasingly police actions designed to prevent the r...	[ "global politics defence warpeace house would create un standing army Impartiality is not defined by the constitution of the forces, but the decision-making process which determine their use. A UN standing army would not alter the injustice of the UN Security Council and its veto system, which institutionalizes sel...	[ "The war in Afghanistan is necessary for US and NATO security The timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan means withdrawing by the end of 2012, regardless of the security situation, and handing over the conflict against the Taliban and Al Qaida (which will almost certainly still be going on) to a largely Afghan ...
Animals' rights are of less moral worth than human rights Humans are complex beings with large well developed brains, that form sizeable social groups, have significant ability to communicate with one another, possess interconnected desires, preferences and interests about the world, have an awareness of their own exi...	[ "animals philosophy ethics science science general house would ban animal To argue that the ends justify the means does not justify research upon animals. Firstly we do not know the extent to which animals are capable of holding interests or experiencing suffering, as they are unable to communicate with us. Our sha...	[ "animals philosophy ethics science science general house would ban animal Research can be done effectively without experimenting on living creature As experimenting on animals is immoral we should stop using animals for experiments. But apart from it being morally wrong practically we will never know how much we w...
It is legitimate to undermine illegitimate governments to promote human rights Autocratic governments that breach their people’s human rights have no legitimacy domestically as they do not represent the people or protect their interests. They also have no international legitimacy, as they are violating their obligatio...	[ "global science censorship ip internet digital freedoms freedom expression It is not up to outside powers to decide what is and what is not in the interest of any peoples but their own. While those attempting to circumvent censorship may see themselves as promoting some kind of universal human rights in practice th...	[ "Palestinians have a right to return under international law Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that \"Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.\" [1] This right clearly applies to the Palestinians, as shown by UN General Assembly Reso...
Abuse of information and power by intelligence agencies Even when the government does not intend harm there are still cases where direct harms can occur as a result of surveillance. The most worrying are where the state abuses the information it holds. Abuse of power and of the information held by government is perhap...	[ "e free speech and privacy politics government digital freedoms privacy The circumstances in the cold war were clearly different to today so this kind of abuse of power would be unlikely to happen. More broadly yes there is the potential for abuse in much the same way that there are people in banks who could steal ...	[ "Warrants are needed to prevent abuse In the light of the recent NSA events(1) , we must try and see past this curtain of fog the government has put in front of us, trying to make us believe that everything it does, it does for our own good and that in this process the law is being respected to the letter. Unfortu...
Persuasion is more effective than coercion Forcing people into voting when they are disengaged from the politic process will exacerbate this problem; no one likes doing something simply because they have to. The election results from compulsory voting may not be a representative view of society, than the current syste...	[ "y political philosophy politics government voting house would make voting As noted elsewhere, forced attendance would lead to increased political awareness, and an abstention option would offer a 'none of the above'/'I don't mind or care' choice instead of people spoiling the ballot. Because the number of voters ...	[ "y political philosophy politics government voting house would make voting There are alternatives that tackle the real causes of voter disengagement Compulsory voting hides the problem which is causing people to be disengaged from politics; it allows politicians to ignore measures that can tackle the true causes o...
Transparency helps reduce international tension Transparency is necessary in international relations. States need to know what each other are doing to assess their actions. Without any transparency the hole is filled by suspicion and threat inflation that can easily lead to miscalculation and even war. The Cuban miss...	[ "ch debate media and good government politics defence government digital freedoms Transparency in situations of international tension is tricky; with complete transparency how do you engage in bluffing? The state that is completely transparent is tying one hand behind its back in international negotiations. It is ...	[ "The military can only be held to account if there is transparency States have militaries to protect themselves creating a paradox that “The very institution created to protect the polity is given sufficient power to become a threat to the polity.” [1] The Military is a powerful institution even in a stable democr...
Cant enforce an online gambling ban Governments can’t actually do anything to enforce a ban on the world wide web. Domestic laws can only stop internet companies using servers and offices in their own country. They cannot stop their citizens going online to gamble using sites based elsewhere. Governments can try to bl...	[ "business economic policy law crime policing digital freedoms freedom expression Governments have the power to ban online gambling in their own country. Even if citizens could use foreign websites, most will not choose to break the law. When the United States introduced its Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Ac...	[ "business economic policy law crime policing digital freedoms freedom expression Because people will gamble anyway, the best that governments can do is make sure that their people gamble in safe circumstances. This means real world that casinos and other betting places that can easily be monitored. The examples of...
Authoritarian leadership President Kagame though considered a visionary leader has made Rwanda a country based on one man’s ideas. He has silenced critics, opposition and any counter arguments that may not support his opinions through tough rules imposed against the media and free speech. This sparked misunderstanding...	[ "bate media and good government international africa house believes limited Rwanda does not limit freedoms of press and speech as such but discourages the use of sensitive articles or speeches that would provoke insecurity in a country still trying to heal from the wounds of genocide. This cannot be therefore consi...	[ "Poverty may have something to do with countries becoming dictatorships but little. That it is about the efficiency of government is much more credible, this is partially why India, with a large native civil service at independence is one of the exceptions. In practice the reason here is that these nations were sub...
Patenting inhibits research and therapeutics The prevailing belief is that this is an area of such great importance and potential benefit to mankind, as such there should be no, self-interested impediment to genome research. The only barriers should be those of conscience. The Human Genome Project is one of the gover...	[ "aw society family house would allow patenting genes Patenting in general is creating more possibilities for patients than if there was no patenting and less competition for development. Even if treatments and diagnostics for some diseases are expensive, they are at least there and are beginning to benefit the peop...	[ "Translation allows greater participation by academics in global academia and global marketplace of ideas Communication in academia is necessary to effectively engage with the work of their colleagues elsewhere in the world, and in sciences in particular there has become a lingua franca in English. [1] Any academi...
Hosting has wide-reaching economic benefits Hosting creates an economic boost. Whilst none of the Olympics of recent times have made an immediate profit, the cost of the regeneration and improved infrastructure means that this is not a big problem as long as the losses are not huge. The Olympics showcases the host nat...	[ "y business finance government sport olympics house believes hosting olympics good Hosting does not leave a beneficial legacy. As a study found in 2010, 'there is insufficient evidence to show that major multi-sport events benefit or harm the health and economy of the host population.'1 The demands of the Olympics ...	[ "Showcase for a nation and continent A key reason why countries host the Olympic games is in order to boost their image abroad – China held the 2008 Games in Beijing as part of an exercise in national promotion [1] . This would also be an opportunity to change the perceptions of Africa amongst some elements in th...
The novel crime of aggression leads to the prosecution of those seeking to protect human rights. The likelihood of political prosecution is only augmented by the creation of the novel crime of 'aggression' under the Rome Statute. Any intervention in a State for the protection of human rights of some or all of its peop...	[ "human rights international law politics government warpeace house would recognise The crime of aggression is not remarkably novel. Intervening in the domestic affairs of a sovereign State is contrary to norms of conventional and customary law. The UN Charter prohibits both the unauthorised use of force against ano...	[ "human rights international law politics government warpeace house would recognise The ICC does not have too much authority, merely the necessary authority to be useful as an institution. It is the very pre-eminence of the US that demands it adhere to the international rule of law, the ICC's existence will not alte...
Transparency prevents public relations disasters Transparency is necessary to avoid public relations disasters; particularly in countries where the media has some freedom to investigate for themselves. It is clearly the best policy for the military to make sure all the information is released along with the reasons be...	[ "ch debate media and good government politics defence government digital freedoms This is clearly not always the case. Often transparency means that the public becomes aware when there is little need for them to know. There had been previous nuclear accidents that had caused no damage, and had not been noticed, suc...	[ "ch debate media and good government politics defence government digital freedoms Clearly transparency in real time might cause some problems allowing the disruption of ongoing operations. However most of the time information could be released very shortly afterwards rather than being considered secret for 25-30 ye...
Only regulation can mitigate harms It is where the sites operate, not where they are set up that matters for regulation. It is in gambling sites interest to run a trustworthy, responsible business. Whatever they are looking for online, internet users choose trusted brands that have been around for a while. If a gambli...	[ "business economic policy law crime policing digital freedoms freedom expression It is only in the interests of big gambling sites that aim to create a long term business to go along with tough regulation. Online gambling sites can get around government regulations that limit the dangers of betting. Because they ca...	[ "Online gambling has increased the incidence of gambling addiction Someone can become addicted very easily – they don’t even need to leave their home, and online gambling sites are available at all hours. This also means that they are gambling in private. They may therefore be less reluctant to wager very large su...
The right to internet access fills a gap in traditional human rights. In our traditional human rights there is a hole when it comes to a right to receive and be able to seek out information. Almost everyone would consider freedom of speech and freedom of expression to be human rights but these rights are not very effe...	[ "access information house believes internet access human right The freedom of speech does not mean that there is a right to reach as broad an audience as possible. It does not mean there is a fundamental right to access the internet or any other individual medium of communication. If indeed there is some kind of ‘g...	[ "We all have an obligation to help maintain freedom of speech. Article 19 of the universal declaration of human rights defines freedom of speech as “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart informa...
Trade is good for democracy. Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez has been making sustained efforts to boost his influence in Latin America, with regional tours and substantial investments in neighbouring economies, fuelled by Venezuela’s oil money [1] . He is staunchly anti-American and a supporter of Iran. Meanwhile, he has been...	[ "economic policy economy general international americas house supports creation The US has a long history of toppling unfriendly regimes in Latin America and propping up dictators who were agreeable to the US, from Panama to Nicaragua. This has made the people of Latin America very mistrustful of any American inter...	[ "The existence of slums and favelas and their increasing criminality in Latin America cannot be explained by the lack of social subsidies. In fact, quite the opposite is the case: the leftward turn in Latin America with an increase in state subsidies that promised to help poor communities has yet to ease the proble...
Politicians should be able to make difficult decisions without fear that selecting one option will lead to their incarceration. By the most popular definition, a state is the entity with the monopoly on the legitimate use of force within a defined territory. Politicians, as the government of that state, necessarily wi...	[ "eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity No one doubts that politicians have to make morally difficult decisions, where sometimes every option is unpleasant. However, no one wants politicians to have an unrestricted ability to make ethical questionable decisions. That is exactly...	[ "eneral punishment politics government house would grant politicians immunity Giving politicians’ immunity from prosecution allows them to focus on performing their duties The premier reason that most states, even those that allow for the prosecution of politicians, abstain from prosecuting them while they hold of...
A school breakfast gives all students an equal start to the day All children should have equal opportunities, a breakfast for all helps provide this. With schools providing breakfast for everyone the start to the day will be the same for all. No one will starting school hungry or thirsty. Everyone will have had a chan...	[ "primary secondary health health general house would provide breakfast all 0 This will not be true equality. Some people naturally wake up earlier, yet many will still be feeling sleepy at 10:00. A school breakfast may have forced these students to be up even longer before their natural wake up time than would othe...	[ "primary secondary health health general house would provide breakfast all 0 Can we be sure a school meal will be healthy? Even if the schools provide breakfast can we be sure that it will be healthy, and even if it is will the students eat it? Without individual supervision that having breakfast with parents prov...
It’s impossible to police such a law. There is simply no feasible way of enforcing laws against arranged marriages, particularly as it is almost guaranteed that many communities will continue to practice them regardless. It will be impossible to tell whether a marriage has been started by arrangement if the community ...	[ "marriage society gender family house would ban arranged marriages eu countries The new laws can set a precedent, even if it takes time. Bringing into practice such a law would arguably help send a message that certain practices do not sync with the sorts of societies European countries try to forge – this includes...	[ "The rule of law means less if it is being constantly overturned Respect for the law will diminish if criminal verdicts exist in a perpetual state of uncertainty. We need to be protected from the state in other ways, too - from the vindictive or obsessed policeman that will pursue a case because he 'knows' the acc...
Labour standards are necessary to protect basic human rights Labour and business standards are a cornerstone of agreement on universal human rights between various international actors and so it is right that they should be linked to aid. In 1998 the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work were ad...	[ "economic policy employment house would make raising business and labour standards Not all standards benefit human rights and some could even undermine individual’s most basic human rights such as that to sustenance and shelter. Standards combating child labour, for example, could be misguided. In many developing c...	[ "economy general philosophy political philosophy house believes capitalism better Socialism leads to a more humane equal society The gap between poor and rich countries has never been as great as it is today, Warren Buffet's wealth was estimated to be a net worth of approximately US$62 billion in 20081, this while...
Other states would not want to waste resources on a refugee state The Seychelles are not a particularly rich place. Their main industries are tourism and tuna fishing accounting for 32% of employment, [1] both of which are unfortunately entirely dependent upon the territory of the islands themselves and cannot be move...	[ "imate water international africa global house believes seychelles should The cost need not be borne by the state from which they Seychelles is given land; rather it could come from the funds that have been set up to help developing nations adapt to climate change such as the Adaptation Fund and the Green Climate F...	[ "A winter cup would harm media revenue At the beginning of each year, every media company, especially the big ones, try and make a plan to see which of the sporting events, they should cover in order to maximize their ratings. As the broadcasting rights of these types of events cost hundreds of millions of dollars...
Earth's Resiliency All the conclusions about the effects of rising atmospheric GHGs are based on computerized climate models. Even those that develop and use the models admit that the models are not nearly complex enough to be 100% accurate. Climate science is incredibly complicated and different models sometimes prod...	[ "climate house believes were too late global climate change While climate models may be imperfect they are the best tool presently available to predict the future. Most predict dire consequences if GHGs continue to rise through the 21st century, which is what seems most likely." ]	[ "Each country should tackle its own problems Every country is going to be affected by climate change in one way or another developed countries included. Australia has often been singled out as being a country that is “anti-climate” [1] but Australia is already being hit by bigger bushfires and sudden floods and th...
Facebook provides an information point Undoubtedly, one of the most important aspects which will influence your efforts to improve your life is your ability to take advantage of every opportunity which comes up. Obviously, one of the, if not the, best way to do this is to stay connected with the world around you, this...	[ "computers phones internet society youth digital freedoms privacy house would join It is true that a society in which information is widely available to the public is desirable, but what must be recognized that this argument of “social platform publicity” encounters two main problems. First of all, unless your inf...	[ "It is unfair for people to suffer for silly past mistakes People make silly mistakes, especially when they are young. The age from which you can join Facebook is 13 and pretty much anyone can post videos to Youtube, run a blog or post comments. It is then no surprise that people can leave unflattering information...
Damages diplomacy to be too open Diplomacy can be very personal; diplomatic initiatives are often the result of a single person, and the individual leader is necessary to conclude negotiations. Transparency about a leader's health may therefore prevent deals being done; Nixon went to China despite Mao's ill heath mean...	[ "free speech and privacy health general international africa politics If the leader in-charge is in illness, to avoid any repudiation, the representative from the other side could meet the leader in order to confirm or even have a video conference with the leader in charge. The leader only needs to set the overall ...	[ "ch debate media and good government politics defence government digital freedoms Provides information to competitors Where there is international competition transparency can be a problem if there is not transparency on both sides as one side is essentially giving its opponent an advantage. This is ultimately why...
Endangered animals are a source of pride for African countries Endangered animals warrant a tougher degree of protection in Africa as they have notable cultural significance. Some groups believe that African elephants have mystic powers attached to them and have coveted them for centuries. [1] African lions have been ...	[ "animals international africa house would african government implement tougher Not all endangered animals have such cultural significance within Africa. Pangolins are armoured mammals which are native to Africa and Asia. Like rhinoceros, pangolins are endangered due to their demand in East Asia. They are relatively...	[ "animals international africa house would african government implement tougher Tougher protection of Africa’s nature reserves will only result in more bloodshed. Every time the military upgrade their weaponry, tactics and logistic, the poachers improve their own methods to counter them. In the past decade, over 1,0...
The problem of suffering The world is full of suffering and pain among innocent people. If God is good and all-powerful then why is this the case? Either God does not exist or he is not worth believing in since he does not care about human suffering.	[ "faith religion general house believes belief god irrational Most suffering and pain can be accounted for by the free will that humans exercise; God made us free and we use that freedom for evil as well as for good. As for illness and disease, it is hard for us to know the mind of God, but it may be that these tria...	[ "Harming animals for entertainment is immoral If a creature suffers then there can be no moral justification for refusing to take that suffering into consideration. All animals are sentient beings that experience joy, happiness, fear and pain, in the same way that human beings do. As Bentham previously noted, it d...
Debt cycles and the curse of microfinance Microfinance is incorporating free market ideologies and subprime (lending to those who may not be able to repay) lending at a smaller scale. Unstable crises’ form as a result, and debt is intensified for the poorest - of which are given access to credit they are not able to r...	[ "finance international africa house would provide access microfinance unbanked Africa’s microfinance schemes can be different, and are fundamentally different. Across Africa there is a history of informal lending. Microfinance is not new, but rather embedded in traditional practices. This means communities are awar...	[ "e international africa house would provide access microfinance unbanked One of the key benefits highlighted about Oxfam’s Saving for Change Initiative is the empowerment provided for women. Women are argued to be more independent, able to organise within communities, and provided with a voice of power. However, ar...
Immoral to own a human life Patenting genes and DNA fragments is immoral because of their significance for human life and welfare. It is immoral to own building blocks of the human life. Commercialization of human genes degrades value of human life. Once we give people the possibility to put an ownership tag on genes ...	[ "aw society family house would allow patenting genes We are happy to put a price on our ideas and knowledge, which are as much building blocks of life as our genes. Each individual already sells his ideas and has a price tag so patenting makes no further devaluation than that which is already there.Even if ownershi...	[ "A screening culture may lead to the value of human life becoming distorted Genetic engineering treats embryos like commodities: “if the product isn’t sufficiently equipped, doesn’t produce the desired results – we will not launch it”. Even if we weren't considering embryos to be \"human life\", it is inappropriat...
If Musk won’t build it who will? Elon Musk himself is unwilling to build his Hyperloop. He has stated “Maybe I would just do the beginning bit, create a subscale version that is operating and then hand it over to someone else. Ironing out the details at a subscale level is a tricky thing. I think I would probably end ...	[ "business economy general house would build hyperloop Even if Elon is not currently willing to lead the project himself he is willing to both build a demonstration prototype to prove the technology and to invest money in the development himself. [1] [1] Elliott, Hannah, ‘Hyperloop Update: Elon Musk Will Start Deve...	[ "business economy general house would build hyperloop It will never work The plan for the Hyperloop is sound technically but would it work politically? It is unlikely that the California high speed rail project will be scrapped simply because there is a new competitor on the block. The Hyperloop has the advantage ...
The law would be hard to enforce. It would be difficult to find out whether a student and teacher have had contact over the internet. If a teacher were having a relationship with a student, and this law was in effect, both parties would try to conceal it from others and from the authorities. There is then a question a...	[ "n science internet house would ban teachers interacting students social The state wouldn’t need blanket access to teachers’ personal accounts. If suspicions arose that a teacher were breaking the law, as with all cyber-laws, the state could subpoena the information needed as proof. This law would work mainly as a ...	[ "n science internet house would ban teachers interacting students social The law would violate freedom of speech and association. Under this law a random person who the student has never met, even a potential predator, would be allowed to send a message via facebook or twitter. And yet a teacher doing the same thi...
Collisions are unnecessary. Baseball doesn’t need collisions. By requiring the runner to slide, just as they must do when attempting to reach other bases, or disallowing catchers to block runners’ paths, or—best of all—requiring both those steps, baseball can eliminate collisions. Unlike in football or rugby, hits at...	[ "team sports house believes major league baseball should continue allow collisions Collisions are an occasionally necessary part of the game. When two professional athletes are involved in a dramatic, exciting play that could change the direction of a game (or decide the outcome of the entire season), they will do ...	[ "team sports house believes major league baseball should continue allow collisions A clean hit will not heighten tensions between teams. Players recognize when a collision is “dirty” and when it is entirely within the rules and spirit of the game. After the Posey hit, a baseball columnist summed up “the consensus v...
Overseas competition Tunisia’s tourism industry is at risk from overseas competition. International tourism is a very competitive market, relying on the industry is therefore an illogical policy. Tunisia is already being undercut on prices by other countries despite its low fees. Morocco, Spain and Turkey can afford t...	[ "business economic policy africa house believes tunisia should not rely tourism The majority of modern economic industries have to face overseas competition. Tunisia, like its North African neighbours, was convinced in the 1990s to emplace neo-liberal reforms in return for increased lending from the World Bank and ...	[ "business economic policy africa house believes tunisia should not rely tourism Produces Employment Tourism is the second largest employer in the country. The industry produces over 400,000 jobs for Tunisians1. This employment figure is vital to Tunisia which has a large number of students in higher-education, aro...
Meritocracy is the only fair system by which society should be ordered Any system that does not reward individuals on the basis of their merit is one that is unjust to those not in the group that is “preferred” and therefore benefitted by it. Meritocracy is the only fair system to run a society on. Any system that do...	[ "ucation secondary university philosophy religion minorities house believes use This issue is not whether or not meritocracy is good, but rather if society is meritocratic without intervention by the public or private sector. The system is not meritocratic without affirmative action; with the endemic psychological ...	[ "Insofar as asylum exists, there is therefore a situation where the opposition would consider it okay to impede on sovereignty for a purpose of protection of individuals. The question is therefore about not if sovereignty can be infringed upon, but rather if this situation fits the criteria to do so. The banning o...
In the current environment, moves to make English the official language are specifically targeted at Hispanic immigrants Historically, efforts to declare English the official language tend to come up when certain elements in the American body politic become threatened. It became an issue in the First World War, when r...	[ "culture general education education general house would make english official It may well be that some people backing the push to make English the official language have questionable motives, but the movement should be evaluated based on its results. Right now Hispanics are already stigmatized, whether on one han...	[ "culture general education education general house would make english official Avoids self-segregation In a time when the US has begun to overcome racial segregation, and legal discrimination in other fields, one of the great challenges it faces is self-segregation. Linguistic diversity worsens these problems bec...
The New START treaty sets a bad approach for a changing world New START reduces US deterrence in world that is arming, not disarming. The United States has relied on deterrence for sixty years and as a result has prevented war between the great powers. A US drawdown, especially as other new powers are arming, will und...	[ "global law international law politics defence warpeace house supports new Agreements between the biggest nuclear powers are a good starting point towards disarmament. We cannot expect countries with a very small number of nuclear weapons to be disarming if the countries that have the vast majority of the world’s a...	[ "Russian and US economic interests conflict Good economic relations are possible only as long as long as The USA believes that Russia is genuinely trying hard to bring its economy into line with the Western world. Both Putin and Medvedev have emphasised that the country’s economic interests will always determine R...
As a business, Google shouldn’t interfere with domestic politics Business is business and politics is politics – and the two shouldn’t mingle. When a company wants to operate in a foreign country, it should respect the government and its regulations. We require the same when a company wants to operate within our terri...	[ "p ip internet digital freedoms access information house believes google Google’s business is inseparable from basic human rights The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), a UN conference, affirmed that access to information is a basic human right, a corollary to the freedom of opinion and expression as ...	[ "p ip internet digital freedoms access information house believes google Google’s revenues wont decline because of this Google as a company is still going strong – in the third quarter of 2011, it managed to exceed analysts’ expectations and posted impressive revenue growth. Most importantly, the figures showed th...
The lack of control over, and profit from, art will serve as a serious disincentive to artistic output Profit is as much a factor in artists’ decision to produce work, if not more so, than the primordial urge to create. Without the guarantee of ownership over one’s artistic work, the incentive to invest in its creatio...	[ "arts science censorship ip digital freedoms access knowledge house believes all Few artists ever see much profit from their work anyway, many choosing the life of bohemian squalor in order to keep producing art rather than taking up more profitable pursuits. Vincent van Gogh sold almost nothing, but his drive to c...	[ "Intellectual property rights allow individuals to release their inventions into the public domain Without the protection of intellectual property, artists, inventors, and innovators may develop ideas without ever releasing them to the public because they lack the ability to market them successfully, or to profit ...
The desire for, and fight for, democracy must come from within or else democratic government will not be sustainable. Unless the people within a country want democracy, they will not respect it. Unlike military dictatorships, democratic governments do not rely solely -- or even mainly-- on force to enforce the law. Ra...	[ "y political philosophy politics defence government house would impose democracy Even if individuals within a nation do not overtly support democracy, that does not mean that democracy does not serve their interests, and that they will not support it once it exists. There are two reasons this might be true. First,...	[ "speech debate internet freedom law human rights digital freedoms freedom expression The liberal democratic paradigm is not the only legitimate model of government, a fact that democracies should accept and embrace Ultimately, states’ laws have to be respected. Liberal democracy has not proven to be the end of his...
Women are not the future for Africa’s economy In the short to medium term women are unlikely to be the key to Africa’s economic future. Even in western economies, there is still a gap between genders at the workplace. Women are still paid less than men, there are more men CEO’s than women and so forth. This is likely ...	[ "economy general international africa house believes women are key africas There is little reason to believe Africa will follow the path that western countries have when it comes to the role of women. Change could come much more quickly than expected. Already there are African countries that have most women in Parl...	[ "economy general international africa house believes women are key africas Africa's greatest needs are for infrastructure and education Africa’s greatest needs for development are infrastructure and education. Neither of these needs implies that women are about to become key to the African economy. Africa is seve...
This was a piece of art, advertised and described as such, those likely to be offended were quite welcome not to watch it. The allegation made by those who objected to the airing of this show was that it was blasphemous. There were also objections to the graphic nature of the language and sexual reference. It seems st...	[ "nothing sacred house believes bbc should be free blaspheme As Proposition suggest, the broadcast had been widely discussed in the media before the event and there had been reviews of the stage performance as well as coverage of the subsequent awards. It cannot have come as a huge surprise that this would attract a...	[ "nothing sacred house believes bbc should be free blaspheme Proposition are obfuscating attacks on the right to a free expression of religious faith, free of ridicule or threat for doing so behind the BBCs obligation to be fair. This right is established in national and international law where it is not treated as ...
The Whole System is broken It is not clear that the system works at all. The majority of those who apply for asylum are working-age males, [1] which implies that there is a strong economic angle. And worse still, even if countries decide that an applicant has no basis to their claim they are frequently unable to depor...	[ "society immigration minorities house believes right asylum should not be absolute Much of the fear of the asylum system being used by economic migrants is simply media hysteria and xenophobia. The vast majority of asylum claims (in the UK around 75%) are still rejected, which shows the system works. [1] Also it is...	[ "Through the SIS the Schengen Area has been able to streamline immigration and asylum policy, thus making it easier to manage immigrants in a consistent manner across Europe [1] . However, countries are not wholly dependent on external borders for security and immigration checks, and so immigrants approaching from ...
Directly elected mayors provide opportunities for populists. The position of elected mayor is likely to attract populist and maverick candidates, who will seek to capitalise on the unpopularity of party politics with “single issue sloganising, glib promises and headline grabbing” (Ken Walker, Labour leader of Middlesb...	[ "local government house would directly elect city mayors If the position of Mayor is given powers then it will attract a wide range of candidates, which may include extremists. However these candidates are no more likely to win than they would be in any other election. As with any other election voters are likely t...	[ "local government house would directly elect city mayors Talented individuals with a proven track record are unlikely to seek mayoral office unless local government is given much greater autonomy by central government. With the powers for each city not yet clear many may not be willing to take the risk. The reason ...
Televising turns justice into entertainment Broadcasting trials would be likely to turn the court in to entertainment. The Simpson trial showed how harmful a televised high profile trial can be degenerating into a freak show. The ICC trials are among the most high profile in the world so are likely to be susceptible t...	[ "ure media television law international law house opposes televising all criminal Court proceedings themselves aren’t, in general, entertaining. Live broadcasts would largely involve lawyers discussing intricate details of issues, including complex points of law. If there was a real prospect of an ICC trial becomin...	[ "ure media television law international law house opposes televising all criminal Transcripts and other forms of notation would also set a historical record. While the Nuremberg trials were filmed, live television broadcast was not technically possible, footage was used for newsreels at the time. The lack of contin...
Patenting drives up the cost of therapies and renders them unaffordable to the poor The government and its laws should take care of all their people. Because the state is a construct built by all the people, who all pay taxes to support it, laws should also be based to benefit the greatest amount of people possible.In...	[ "aw society family house would allow patenting genes Firstly, it is not self-evident, that people have a right to use and possess something, such as medicine that they did not create.So why should people have the right to use a product that someone else discovered through the power of their own cognitive abilities....	[ "aw society family house would allow patenting genes Patenting in general is creating more possibilities for patients than if there was no patenting and less competition for development. Even if treatments and diagnostics for some diseases are expensive, they are at least there and are beginning to benefit the peop...
Incentivise ISPs to provide more data capacity If the ISPs were actually making their money on the basis of data provision rather than bandwidth then it’s in their interest to provide it. If they can’t, they don’t make money. If they want to sell more data, they have to provide more bandwidth, otherwise they can’t do...	[ "e internet freedom digital freedoms access information house supports The reverse also applies. In most countries the costs of basic infrastructure are shared. Taxpayers don’t get a discount if they don’t have kids in education, any more than they would just because they disagreed with a war that their taxes help ...	[ "Warrants are needed to prevent abuse In the light of the recent NSA events(1) , we must try and see past this curtain of fog the government has put in front of us, trying to make us believe that everything it does, it does for our own good and that in this process the law is being respected to the letter. Unfortu...
Restrictions on migration would benefit people in the cities economically and socially Cities are very appealing to poor people. Even if their living standards in cities might be unacceptable, they get closer to basic goods, such as fresh water, sanitation etc. However, these things exist because there are productive ...	[ "economic policy society immigration house believes developing nations should People who move to the cities have chosen to move from their families and dear ones, because they want to create a new and better life for themselves. Armed with great motivation, they enter the cities and are often prepared to undertake ...	[ "Offshore outsourcing is consistent with existing labour distribution patterns. Offshore outsourcing lowers the cost of goods and services. There is no real need for all of the goods and services that are consumed within a highly developed economy to be produced in that economy. The sale price of a particular form...
The law would violate freedom of speech and association. Under this law a random person who the student has never met, even a potential predator, would be allowed to send a message via facebook or twitter. And yet a teacher doing the same thing, regardless of the content of that message, would be instantly committing ...	[ "n science internet house would ban teachers interacting students social Speech can be restricted in order to protect the vulnerable groups, like children, from harm. Such a law does not attempt to keep educators from communicating or associating with their students. It merely insures such interactions happen in an...	[ "access information house would block access social messaging networks Police should not block the communications and freedom of expression of law-abiding citizens The blocking of social networks, of the internet, or of mobile phone networks in times of riot would be an illegitimate curtailment of a private compan...
An ICC enforcement arm would make the ICC more credible as an organization To its critics, the ICC is an organization that can be mocked with Stalin’s dismissal of the influence of the Pope: “how many divisions does he have?” An ICC capable of arresting its own fugitives would become a more credible organization, not...	[ "crime policing international law house believes icc should have its own enforcement Just creating a force to bring suspects to trial would not necessarily be enough to make the ICC a more credible organization. That would have to come through more measures and building multilateral support in areas where situation...	[ "crime policing international law house believes icc should have its own enforcement ICC enforcement would create resentment There are good reasons for why an ICC enforcement arm would be ineffective on its own. It may have all the necessary equipment and training but it would be a foreign force, that may or may n...
It may be necessary to limit trial by jury in terrorism cases, or other cases surrounding large national security issues. There are three reasons why this is the case. First, terrorist groups may threaten jury members (see Argument 2 for more detail). Second, terrorism may politicize the jury (see Argument 3 for more ...	[ "eral philosophy political philosophy house would limit right trial jury some First, eliminating trial by jury may make other countries less willing to cooperate with us, reducing the amount of information we have about international terrorism. For example, the United States’ decision to eliminate juries from terro...	[ "eral philosophy political philosophy house would limit right trial jury some Limiting trial by jury in some cases sets the stage for limiting it in other, unjustified, cases. Humans are fallible, and so sometimes it is better to have absolute rules against certain actions, even if we recognize that in a perfect w...
Russia as a state and Russians as a nation need strong leadership Historically, Russia has always needed strong centralised leadership for it to make progress. This was true both in imperial times under tsars such as Peter the Great (who made Russia a European power and built St Petersburg) and Alexander II (who freed...	[ "onal europe politics government house believes russia needs strong leadership History is not destiny and a highly-selective view of Russia's past should not lead us to prefer authoritarian rule today. The Tsars and their communist successors killed millions of people through brutal rule and failed policies - made ...	[ "onal europe politics government house believes russia needs strong leadership Russia does not have true democracy The status quo in Russia is highly controversial. On the one hand it is considered a democracy – it has all the structures and norms of a democracy. On the other hand there are many attacks and proof ...
A delay is necessary for national security Kenya is at risk of terrorist attack. Al-Shabab, a group linked to Al Qaeda have launched a number of attacks against Kenya. In addition to the Westgate massacre, there have been grenade attacks on bus terminals [1] and suicide bombings in refugee camps [2] . Kenya’s waters ...	[ "rnational africa law human rights international law government leadership voting Kenya is an advanced state with a functioning system of the rule of law – except for those in power. With modern video technology, Ruto and Kenyatta could oversee the governance of the country from The Hague, or, alternatively, partic...	[ "The war in Afghanistan is necessary for US and NATO security The timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan means withdrawing by the end of 2012, regardless of the security situation, and handing over the conflict against the Taliban and Al Qaida (which will almost certainly still be going on) to a largely Afghan ...
South Korea can handle the situation itself The two Koreas should be able to solve the situation themselves without recourse to all the neighbouring powers – whose interest does not seem to have spurred a solution to the frozen conflict anyway. With the Cold War over South Korea is more than capable of handling its ow...	[ "onal asia politics defence house would ignore north korean provocations Pressure from other states acts as a force multiplier helping to show that the North has crossed a line with its actions. A lack of reaction from the Unites States, Japan, and other states around the world would show that these nations are no ...	[ "Violation of Sovereignty Sovereignty is the exercise of the fullest possible rights over a piece of territory; the state is ‘supreme authority within a territory’. [1] The sovereignty of nations has been recognised by all nations in article 2 of the UN charter. [2] Funding attempts by citizens of a nation to avoi...
It will cause resentment and make certain communities feel targeted. Arranged marriages are seen as a very important aspect of the identity of lots of Euro-Asian communities. At a time when tensions between non-Muslims and Muslims in Europe are high enough, for example there were protests in London against the film in...	[ "marriage society gender family house would ban arranged marriages eu countries You can extend that argument to any kind of illiberal practice. The same could easily be said of practices like FGM. Choosing not to ban certain traditions just because they are culturally entrenched could be extended to anything, from ...	[ "government religion church religion general secularism house would ban religious Muslim women are not the only ones to feel a cultural division over their mode of dress. Most people are affected by the societal norms surrounding them. Fashion trends could be seen in exactly the same light as religious traditions. ...
Turkey has a poor human rights record Turkey’s human rights record is improving rapidly, with the abolition of the death penalty and the removal of restrictions on the use of the Kurdish language. "Encouraged by the EU, Turkey has pursued legislative and constitutional reforms liberalizing the political system and rel...	[ "americas europe global middle east politics politics general house would Turkey has a large number of pending cases to be addressed by the European Court of Human Rights [1] . Police use of torture is widespread against PKK members and sympathisers. Turkey refuses even to acknowledge that Kurds have a separate cul...	[ "Ending the conflict with the Kurds – inclusive government Democracies are only truly democratic when they accept that their minorities have rights and deserve a place in the political system even if those minorities themselves want a separate state. Only then does the country truly represent and work for everyone...
Terrorism can bring attention Terrorism can raise the profile of a neglected cause. The hi-jackings of the 1970s and 1980s brought publicity to the Palestinian cause, helping to bring it to the attention of the world. [1] States can use their wealth and media to put across their side of the story; their opponents do n...	[ "political philosophy politics terrorism house believes terrorism can be Not all attention that follows terrorism is positive. After the 9/11 attacks, aid workers in Afghanistan were forced to cut off food supplies in the country, even though 7 to 8 million civilians were dependent on them. [1] The kind of terroris...	[ "The Palestinian refugee crisis was created and is perpetuated by the Arab states and the Palestinians themselves The current Palestinian refugee crisis is largely the creation of the Palestinian people themselves, who largely left voluntarily (or at least not by Israeli force) in 1948, and the Arab states who bot...
Classification, not censorship We should expect fans of an art form that is subjected to public criticism and vilification to leap to its defence. Some of these aficionados- whether the medium in question is cinema, fine art or pop music- make the case for the value of their favourite mode of expression by overstating...	[ "living difference house would ban music containing lyrics glorify Crime and deviance existed in marginalised communities long before the creation of pop music or hip hop. Side proposition is attempting to claim that a particular genre of hip hop is harming efforts to improve living standards and social cohesion wi...	[ "living difference house would ban music containing lyrics glorify Hip hop is a diverse genre. The quote that opened this discussion is taken from a song by the English surrealist rapper Scroobius Pip. His albums cover themes entirely different from those found in “gangsta” rap. Similarly, artists such as MIA, Opti...
Elections of any sort force rulers to meet their people Elections almost anywhere in the world mean politicians getting out and campaigning. Regardless of the legitimacy of the final election the leadership of the country will be going out and meeting voters. In many of these events individuals won’t be able to expres...	[ "government voting house would have no elections rather sham elections There is little difference between a stage managed election and stage managed events without elections. In either case the chances of the autocrat meeting real people who present opinions that are not on the party message are slim." ]	[ "Votes by 16-17 year olds would not be protest votes Throughout the European Union in the Parliament elections there is a problem with protest voting. Indeed studies have found that almost 40% of votes in European Parliament elections are protest votes; [1] this is clearly bad for the European Parliament as these ...
It blocks a significant amount of evidence A system of just law is not based on opinions or ideologies. It is about finding evidence and using that evidence to prove or disprove either to 'beyond reasonable doubt' for criminal cases or 'on the balance of probabilities' for civil and commercial matters. The burden is o...	[ "law general house believes attorney client privilege should be abolished If it were the case that legal advice were not privileged people would not tell their attorneys the full truth and therefore such evidence would not exist anyway. The removal of Attorney-Client Privilege would only remove such evidence from t...	[ "law general house believes attorney client privilege should be abolished It makes it more likely that attorneys will lie for their clients If communications between an attorney and their client are confidential, then it allows for lies to be put forward to the court in order to defend someone who is guilty. In th...
Collecting and selling personal information is a major violation of privacy The gathering of personal data that companies undertake is done in a fashion that is fundamentally invasive of individuals’ privacy. When individuals go online they act as private parties, often enjoying anonymity in their personal activities...	[ "privacy house would not allow companies collectsell personal data their Much of the “personal” data that is kept, collated, and sold is freely available online already and can be protected in many ways. The programmes that are used to collect information online, where most of this collation takes place, often do n...	[ "Considering the amount of data governments produce, compelling them to publish all of it would be counterproductive as citizens would be swamped. It is a misnomer in many things that more is necessarily better but that is, perhaps, more true of information than of most things. Public bodies produce vast quantitie...
Profiling is simply institutionalizing racism an reduces minorities to the status of second class citizens Profiling is, in the end, simply wrong. Britain suffered for decades from the ‘innocent until proven Irish’ attitude of their security forces, which did nothing but engender resentment among Irish individuals who...	[ "terrorism society minorities inequality house would use racial profiling part The use of the term “racism” suggests that assumptions made by screeners are based on prejudice, not fact. Profiling, which takes far more than race into account, has a solid basis in fact. It is entirely sensible to attempt to prevent c...	[ "terrorism society minorities inequality house would use racial profiling part The experience of Israel proves that profiling works Israel has been using profiling for decades to identify those individuals at airports that should be stopped, questioned and have their luggage thoroughly checked [i] . Despite the m...
An ICC enforcement arm would be highly detrimental to the relations between the ICC and state parties Currently the ICC functions based on a relationship of trust and understanding with the state parties to the ICC – a bottom-up rather than a top-down approach. This is backed up by the court’s respect for the for the ...	[ "crime policing international law house believes icc should have its own enforcement Those arguments are similar ones to those used against the ICC. An ICC police force, comprised of officers from individual state and supervised by an independent authority appointed by a similar mechanism to the judges, would use t...	[ "traditions law human rights international law society family house would require The proposition understates the extent to which the needs of child soldiers are catered to by international justice bodies. The Paris Principles [i] , which are used to guide the formation and functions of national human rights organi...
Just as the state creates laws to protect child performers it could ban child performers Child performers are currently protected by laws about all sorts of things from the minimum amount of education they may get to their pay and how many hours they can work. Many of these laws would be much more difficult to enforce...	[ "media modern culture television youth sport house would ban child performers Banning child performers could be successful for professional child performers in regulated industries but it would be much more difficult to prevent child performers on a small scale. It will also be very difficult to get a balance betwe...	[ "media modern culture television youth sport house would ban child performers Children might feel as if their rights are being taken away, but there is a reason why children are not given free reign over the way they live their lives. Governments have already stepped in to prevent children from endangering their he...
This offer of amnesty serves as a powerful public statement in favour of free speech and rule of law In offering amnesty Western governments make an exceptionally powerful public statement in the international arena, an area in which they already hold great sway as norm-setters. It is a statement that shows that they ...	[ "speech debate internet freedom law human rights digital freedoms freedom expression This policy will not be a public statement of anything other than Western attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of others. It is also a powerfully hypocritical message; many democracies have libel laws that prevent libel an...	[ "Advanced surveillance technology prevents dissidents from being able to organize and sue for freedom High-tech surveillance technology has given repressive governments and police states a new lease on life. Now more than ever they can intrude into every aspect of people’s lives, ensuring that dissent is cowed for...
The head of state/government must be accountable to the people Secrecy in relation to the leader’s health shows a distrust or distain of the electorate. Not being open about health issues almost invariably means that the administration is lying to those who elected them, those who they are accountable to. A couple of ...	[ "free speech and privacy health general international africa politics If a candidate has a condition during an election campaign then there is a clear right to know when the electorate is making the decision. But does such a right to know apply at other times when it will make no difference to the people? There can...	[ "Open primaries promote engagement with political minorities A major problem with general elections, specifically in countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and Canada which use Majoritarian Simple Plurality electoral systems, is that only two major parties (e.g. Democrats and Republicans) are in conte...
Social Policy: encouraging teaching careers UNESCO (2013) report the need for 6.8mn teachers by 2015 for the right to primary education to be achieved. The teaching workforce requires includes both replacements and additional teachers. Africa has a reality of low teacher-student ratios. In 2012, 80 students were repor...	[ "ary teaching international africa house believes lack investment teachers Firstly, encouraging teaching as a employment path does not ensure committed or motivated teachers are gained. Secondly, the problem is advocating ‘universal’ education when the infrastructure does not match. Low teacher ratios per student i...	[ "ary teaching international africa house believes lack investment teachers Fundamentally, structures cannot be changed without development. Human capital however, provides a means of development. Studies have shown the positive role human capital - a composite measure of education and knowledge - has on a nation’s ...
Returning to the 1967 borders would bring peace to Israel. If Israel were to withdraw to its 1967 borders, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) would recognise Israel as legitimate within its remaining territories and end the conflict. In October 2010 Senior Palestine Liberation Organization official Yasser A...	[ "global middle east house believes israel should return its pre 1967 borders Simply withdrawing to its 1967 borders would not end the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Violence between Israelis and Palestinians long pre-dates the 1967 war. The 1967 war itself was caused by the fact that even an Israel within its 1967 bo...	[ "rnational middle east law human rights international law house believes israels west The Settlements are justified based on the expulsion of Jews from Arab lands after 1967 Settlement construction, and in fact the whole settlement of Jews in the West Bank has to be viewed in the wider context of the Middle East c...
Russia does not have true democracy The status quo in Russia is highly controversial. On the one hand it is considered a democracy – it has all the structures and norms of a democracy. On the other hand there are many attacks and proof that the Russian governance is far from democratic: The joint observer team for the...	[ "onal europe politics government house believes russia needs strong leadership Russia has the attributes of a democracy. It is a federal state with a constitution. It has a two chamber legislature; the lower house is the Duma with 450 members elected from nationwide party lists based upon proportional representatio...	[ "onal europe politics government house believes russia needs strong leadership Russia as a state and Russians as a nation need strong leadership Historically, Russia has always needed strong centralised leadership for it to make progress. This was true both in imperial times under tsars such as Peter the Great (wh...
Easy to introduce A ban on smoking in public places would be simple to enforce – it is an obvious activity, and does not require any form of complex equipment or other special techniques . It would largely be enforced by other users of public places and those working there. If it changes attitudes enough, it could be ...	[ "addiction healthcare international africa house believes ghanas ban smoking public It would require a large amount of resources for law enforcement to go in to such public places occasionally to see that the ban is being enforced. It would be easier to enforce conditions relating to the packaging and production o...	[ "government religion church religion general secularism house would ban religious A ban would be simple to enforce. A ban would be simple to create and enforce. Religious symbols are for the most part meant to be shown therefore it is simple for police or authorities to check that someone is not wearing them. Ther...
The DC Handgun ban is inconsistent with other legislation in the U.S. A change in legislation in DC that is markedly different from everywhere else in the U.S. is harmful. Whilst the constitution might be amended to give a specific change for DC, the rest of the U.S. will still be able to bear arms. The point of the A...	[ "crime policing law general local government house would ban handguns washington dc Democracy is designed to be a flexible mechanism that can change based on different circumstances and at different times. The American constitution should provide a legal basis for all citizens of the U.S. However, the reason such ...	[ "crime policing law general local government house would ban handguns washington dc The right for Americans to bear arms used to be important for symbolic reasons. However, now such a symbol does not serve to act in the same way that it once did. It was once realistic that American citizens would be able to counter...
Socialism provides a more sustainable way of living Capitalism always acts on the cost of nature and its ecological balance. With its imperative to constantly expand profitability, it exposes ecosystems to destabilizing pollutants, fragments habitats that have evolved over time to allow the flourishing of organisms, s...	[ "economy general philosophy political philosophy house believes capitalism better In practice capitalism and environmentalism do not necessarily have to clash with each other as can been proved by small enterprises that can directly implement green criteria by, for example, using renewable energy sources, avoiding ...	[ "Species extinction is an inevitable process Species extinction is a part of the natural world: Within evolution species naturally go arise and later become extinct as they struggle to adapt to changing environments and competition with other species. This be regarded as a part of the 'survival of the fittest' whi...
Animal research causes severe harm to the animals involved The point of animal research is that animals are harmed. Even if they don’t suffer in the experiment, almost all are killed afterwards. With 115 million animals used a year this is a big problem. Releasing medical research animals in to the wild would be dange...	[ "animals science science general ban animal testing junior What then is the interest of the animal? If releasing these animals into the wild would kill them then surely it is humane to put them down after the experiment. It must also be remembered that the interest of the animal is not the main and is outweighed by...	[ "animals international africa house would african government implement tougher Most of these human deaths are caused by humans invading the territory of the animals at hand. Even giraffes, usually considered peaceful animals, will attack if they feel that humans are too close. Generally, it is the human’s responsib...
The government has a right to make decisions in the best interest of the people Man is a social being. Therefore people live in communities where decisions that affect the many, are taken by representatives of the many. Thus, a social contract exists between the people and their government. [1] In exchange for part of...	[ "economic policy society immigration house believes developing nations should The government has a right to make some decisions on behalf of the people, but not any decision. Once the state acts against one group of people to further the interest of an already privileged group of people it loses this right as the s...	[ "The right to internet access as a fundamental right. Internet access is a “facilitative right”, in that it facilitates access to the exercise of many other rights: like freedom of expression, information, and assembly. It is a “gateway right”. Possessing a right is only as valuable as your capacity to exercise it...
It places excessive moral burden on solicitors With the attorney-client privilege in place, there is an excessive burden on the solicitor to cope with any information their client may give to them on a confidential basis. This means they have to deal with the information alone. This is an excessive moral burden for an...	[ "law general house believes attorney client privilege should be abolished The privilege that subsists between solicitors and their clients is well documented. Therefore, when people go about becoming solicitors they go into it knowing the potential moral pitfalls. Having entered the career they accept the moral bur...	[ "law general house believes attorney client privilege should be abolished Client-Attorney Privilege is already qualified appropriately In exceptional circumstances, solicitors are told that they may depart from the rule of confidentiality contained in Rule 4 of the Solicitors' Code of conduct. Note 9 states that t...
The international system is based on equality and non-interference Relations between states are based upon “the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.” The UN Charter emphasises “Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially w...	[ "global science censorship ip internet digital freedoms freedom expression Proclamations that there can be no interference in another state are simply attempts by elites to cling on to power by preventing any help reaching those campaigning for democracy. These declarations, even the UN Charter, are negotiated, wri...	[ "It is an invasion without Security Council sanction The legality of Russia’s invasion of Crimea is simple “Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine violates international law.” [1] The UN Charter is unambiguous “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against th...
Cluster Bombs Cause Unacceptable Harm to Civilians In a modern warfare scenario, the vast majority of combat takes place in civilian areas, such as cities. Whilst cluster bombs are obviously not used for peacekeeping purposes they are used in initial assaults on these areas, particularly against larger formations of e...	[ "national law politics defence warpeace house believes us should ban use cluster Cluster bombs, when used sensibly are used in uninhabited areas to take down military personnel. They are only intended for military targets and collateral damage when attacking military targets is something that is accepted as a regre...	[ "national law politics defence warpeace house believes us should ban use cluster The improvement of cluster bombs in the way that opposition describes has not happened yet and these bombs have not been deployed. It would be fairly easy to class these new cluster bombs differently to older models should they come in...
Imposing democracy can be a way to support individuals unable to fight for democracy themselves. If the people within a nation want democracy, it is not wrong -- indeed it may even be morally required -- for us to assist them by imposing democracy against the will of the governing class. Often internal movements lack ...	[ "y political philosophy politics defence government house would impose democracy First, it is not clear whether such a position is topical. Second, it is better to support protesters in this case, rather than taking the lead. To begin with, it is not clear that assisting individuals in the fight for democracy is a...	[ "y political philosophy politics defence government house would impose democracy The desire for, and fight for, democracy must come from within or else democratic government will not be sustainable. Unless the people within a country want democracy, they will not respect it. Unlike military dictatorships, democrat...
It is immoral to kill animals As evolved human beings it is our moral duty to inflict as little pain as possible for our survival. So if we do not need to inflict pain to animals in order to survive, we should not do it. Farm animals such as chickens, pigs, sheep, and cows are sentient living beings like us - they are...	[ "animals environment general health health general weight philosophy ethics There is a great moral difference between humans and animals. Unlike animals, humans are capable of rational thought and can alter the world around them. Other creatures were put on this earth for mankind to use, and that includes eating me...	[ "Bullfighting is a form of animal torture Bullfighting constitutes animal torture because it is exactly the suffering of the animal from which the entertainment of the crowd is drawn, and the level of suffering inflicted is on the level of that caused by torture. Jeremy Bentham argued that \"Cock-fights and bull-f...
This is a sports event not a political event Sport and politics are separate and should be kept separate. This is the position of the organisers “Uefa has no position and will not take any regarding the political situation in Ukraine, and will not interfere with internal government matters.” [1] Euro 2012 is a footbal...	[ "olympics team sports house would boycott euro 2012 ukraine unless yulia timoshenko Sports and politics have always been intertwined and so can’t be separated. That political leaders were thinking of attending in anything beyond a private capacity proves the linking of international football and politics. Yanukovyc...	[ "olympics team sports house would boycott euro 2012 ukraine unless yulia timoshenko Europe must not give approval to this regime. Viktor Yanukovych fairly came to power in 2010 however since then he has set about attacking the country’s fragile democracy. There are numerous cases showing this democratic decline. F...
Prosecutions don't get to the real truth Truth is the most important factor that supports the healing process. Individuals when being prosecuted have incentives to hide crimes and lie about the true motivations for offences occurring as they don’t want to go to prison for telling the truth. This means that the whole t...	[ "africa global law human rights international law house believes Prosecutions allow an equal chance for both prosecution and defense to show the truth as they believe it with the result that far more facts are brought to life than a process that is reliant only on the individual being ‘truthful’. Moreover an amnest...	[ "Bar to truth and reconciliation After the conclusion of the war in Syria, there will have to be a period of nation building – either Assad will have destroyed his enemies and have an alienated nation to deal with, or the Syrian National Congress will have to take effective control over the country. Syria will ne...
It is unfair to new members of EU Not only are the largest recipients of CAP western countries – France, Spain and Germany - also the payments per hectare of arable lands differ significantly between new and old members of EU. The new members of EU with their economies often struggling and more dependent on agricultur...	[ "business economic policy international europe house believes eu should abandon The costs of starting and maintaining business in agriculture vary among European countries as well – the costs of additional materials can be much cheaper in for example Poland than in France. The costs of life vary among European coun...	[ "Britain should not pay more than other countries Britain’s rebate is completely justified. Without it Britain would pay far more into the EU than it ever received back. The UK government argues “Without the rebate, the UK's net contribution as a percentage of national income would be twice as big as France's, and...
Fewer human deaths Fewer large beasts will lead to fewer deaths in Africa. Some endangered animals are aggressive and will attack humans. Hippopotamuses kill in excess of three hundred humans a year in Africa, with other animals such as the elephant and lion also causing many fatalities. [1] Footage released in early ...	[ "animals international africa house would african government implement tougher Most of these human deaths are caused by humans invading the territory of the animals at hand. Even giraffes, usually considered peaceful animals, will attack if they feel that humans are too close. Generally, it is the human’s responsib...	[ "animals international africa house would african government implement tougher Endangered animals are a source of pride for African countries Endangered animals warrant a tougher degree of protection in Africa as they have notable cultural significance. Some groups believe that African elephants have mystic powers...
Infantilisation and Prejudice Those who dismiss the reaction to ‘The Spear’ forget the historical context which may trigger the sorts of responses seen to the artwork. [1] South Africa’s past problems can be seen to derive from the gross caricaturing of Black people and Black Men in particular as lascivious, overtly ...	[ "reputation and defamation house believes spear should have remained To attach historical abuses to the symbolism of ‘The Spear’ is outlandish, irresponsible and fully indicates the way in which the ANC and its supporters use the past to excuse its poor record in government. ‘The Spear’ followed a theme criticising...	[ "It should first be observed that accidents and inadvertent harm can befall S&M practitioners irrespective of the level of caution that they exercise. It is unacceptable to require responsible adults to run the risk of prosecution whenever they engage in a consensual act of sexual expression. Further, relation...
Neo-functionalism proposes a purpose to EU integration. Neo-functionalism proposed building a community Europe, through the concept of spillover the theory proposes economic determinism. Spill-over will eventually lead to a completely integrated Europe with a strong central government. This has not yet been proved tru...	[ "nomic policy economy general international europe philosophy political Neo-functionalism believes in building a community Europe, but then the question is raised, what is the purpose of this new entity? There is no common outlook and getting the major powers of Europe to agree what this should be will be near impo...	[ "nomic policy economy general international europe philosophy political The Founder of Neo-functionalism abandoned his own Theory (Haas). The Founder of Neo-functionalist theory Ernst B. Haas later abandoned his own theory; According to Tranholm-Mikkelsen (1991)- “By the mid-1970 s, Ernst Haas had effectively aban...
Cyber attacks are often carried out by non-state actors Cyber attacks are often carried out by non-state actors, such as cyberterrorists or hacktivists (social activists who hack), without any involvement of the actual state. For instance, in 2007 a massive cyber attack launched on Estonia was blamed on Russia due to ...	[ "warpeace science internet house would consider large scale cyber attack act war In case of non-state actors attack, many practitioners in international law agree that the state can still retaliate in self-defence if another state is 'unwilling or unable to take effective action' to deal with attacks coming from wi...	[ "global house would create international treatyban cyber attacks A cyber treaty benefits everyone A treaty that bans, or sharply curtails cyber-attacks would benefit every state. Even those who may currently benefit from cyber espionage would be better off signing up to the treaty. First most cyber-attacks are no...
There have been similar suggestions before for intercity travel The Hyperloop is not the first proposal to use tubes with low – or no – pressure in them. A very high speed train was proposed by Robert M. Salter in 1972. This as a train running in a vacuum would have gone substantially faster than anything that is curr...	[ "business economy general house would build hyperloop That there have been similar suggestions before does not mean they are not commercialisable today. The very high speed trains are an inspiration for the Hyperloop but have serious disadvantages by comparison. Because of their vacuum tube the system would be stop...	[ "business economy general house would build hyperloop The Hyperloop is comparatively cheap The Hyperloop would be cheap to build. The pods themselves would only cost $1.35million each, the pressurised tube just $650million (or double if wanting vehicles), with only two stations their cost would only be $250million...
Deregulation contributed to the banking crises and, therefore the 2009 economic crash It is clear that the economic meltdown was, in large part, caused by deregulation of the banking and financial sectors. The Republican obsession causes not only environmental damage and low wages but it doesn’t even succeed in its av...	[ "economic policy tax politics government house doesnt trust republicans economy The events of late 2008 had a variety of complex causes. To try and blame them on one thing alone is not to understand the problem. What is clear however is that an active financial sector creates jobs and wealth for the American peopl...	[ "economic policy tax politics government house doesnt trust republicans economy Republicans more enthusiastically support market capitalism A free market is at the core of many of the other freedoms we enjoy. When government gets too involved in the running of commerce – whether through taxation, regulation or the...
Collective bargaining is a necessary aspect of democracy Collective bargaining is needed by people in any job. Within any firm there exist feedback structures that enable workers to communicate with managers and executive decision makers. However, there are some issues which affect workers significantly, but run again...	[ "mployment tax politics government house would abolish all collective bargaining Even if collective bargaining leads to a workforce that is better able to communicate their ideas, it also leads to a situation as mentioned within the proposition arguments that results in unions having significantly more power over t...	[ "mployment tax politics government house would abolish all collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a counter to the creation of natural monopolies Many public industries exist as public industries because they are natural monopolies. For example, rail travel, which is often public in Western Liberal democra...
Bush squandered an extraordinary economic legacy on tax cuts for the wealthy and too expensive and unnecessary wars. The Clinton legacy was one of extraordinary economic health including an enormous $4,000 billion surplus. This could have been used to improve services and create jobs. Instead the Bush administration s...	[ "economic policy tax politics government house doesnt trust republicans economy The logic behind tax cuts is two-fold. The first is that it isn’t the government’s money, it belongs to the people who worked hard to earn it. The second is that cash in people’s pockets acts as a stimulus to the economy which it doesn’...	[ "economic policy tax politics government house doesnt trust republicans economy The reason for the apparent superiority of Democrat administrations is that they use government as a job creation service; using taxpayers’ money to create jobs in a bloated federal administration [i] . Ultimately, these are not real j...
Facebook has a negative impact on learning For many students, the constant flow of news, status updates, pictures and comments which comes through Facebook every single hour is proving to be a very distracting, which not surprisingly affects their educational progress. It negatively impacts learning. Studies show that...	[ "computers phones internet society youth digital freedoms privacy house would join On this point, it may be true that children who get distracted easily use Facebook as an excuse not to study, but that doesn’t mean that social networks are the cause of this phenomenon. These children tend to use them as social netw...	[ "computers phones internet society youth digital freedoms privacy house would join Facebook enhances people’s lives and brings numerous advantages. Facebook provides information and social support through the creation of a network of friends; sometimes this communication will bring them into contact with material t...
Internet access cannot be a human right when it is not available to all. If human rights are inalienable and inherent in humans then no technology can be a human right as not everyone can ever expect access all of the time. Certainly at the moment huge swathes of the world have no internet access and this does not mea...	[ "access information house believes internet access human right Human rights are as much aspirational as they are fact. When the universal declaration of human rights came out the majority of people in the world did not have “the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen ...	[ "Repatriation is immoral The repatriation of illegal immigrants, even if it is not completely under coercion, is immoral. Even if the repatriation is 'voluntary', immigrants know they have no alternatives, and might agree to go back voluntary because the next step would be involuntary repatriation. This means that...
Transparency allows citizens to choose for a healthy leader as to ensure proper functioning The health and fitness of a leader is a vital issue when choosing a leader; the electorate deserves to know if they are likely to serve out their term. When health conditions are hidden from the people they may mistakenly elect...	[ "free speech and privacy health general international africa politics Administrative capabilities should not be compared to health. Unhealthy leaders may perform better than the healthy ones, people could be misled to choose inappropriate leaders while taking health as a black spot while the leader could actually h...	[ "Term limits are undemocratic and suggest, falsely, that voters cannot make intelligent decisions about their leaders on their own. Term limits are grossly undemocratic. If a leader is popular and desired by the people to continue to lead them, then it should be their choice to re-elect him. The instituting of ter...
The feminist movement should not allow women to sell themselves In most cases, pornography is not entered into willingly. Similarly to prostitution, the sale of one’s own body and one’s dignity is so drastic that consent is often not sufficiently informed to be legitimate. There are patriarchal structures in society t...	[ "media modern culture pornography society gender family house believes feminist What is the difference between working as a pornographic artist and working as a street sweeper, or someone who unblocks the drains? Neither of those is an ideal job, and will rarely be a youth’s first career option. Both involve the us...	[ "global science censorship ip internet digital freedoms freedom expression Governments enable censorship to protect their citizens What censorship is it legitimate to undermine? Censorship is often created in order to protect the people not to strip them of freedoms. This is most obvious when we consider that filt...
Maintaining the value of the degree Employers and others expect certain degrees to mean certain things; they are more than just an expensive badge. In the case of elite western universities part of what that means is a critical approach to the world and the willingness to challenge ideas, regardless of the authority t...	[ "y free speech debate free know house believes western universities Employers measure degrees by the academic results they indicate. The level of political engagement of the individuals is not critical – or even relevant – to that measure. In a global market of tens of millions of students graduating every year [i]...	[ "Creative arts graduates are rarely well rewarded It is a simple fact that degrees in the Arts offer less earning potential than those in all other sectors (except Education and social work) [i] . As well as being an issue for the individual, this affects wider society, as those on lower incomes are more likely to...
Social media can be powerful educational resources. Many teachers have been using social media as an extension of the classroom, some of them setting up discussion pages, or allowing students to contact them about homework or things that they did not understand in the classroom, it allows the teachers to provide extra...	[ "n science internet house would ban teachers interacting students social Even if this were a great educational tool, some kids may not have access to it. Poverty or a parent’s life style choice might leave kids without access to a computer or the internet, preventing them from joining into such online discussions. ...	[ "Homework has a lot of educational value, the reason it has not shown this is because teachers do not set the right kind of homework or they set the wrong amount of it. Some teachers believe homework is for reviewing material, others think it is better for learning new concepts. The result is 'confusion for student...

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