Models

What is a model?

A model is a tool for a team to indicate for everyone in the debate how the policy in the topic will function practically in the world. Creating a model is a task for the whole team during preparation, but should be delivered by the first speaker early in their speech.

The model should set up a clear, fair basis of practical elements for the policy discussion. Employed correctly, a model provides simple, concise details that deal with practical concerns in the debate, so that a robust discussion of the outcomes from a change can occur.

To set up your model, teams should look at two main questions:

1. Who is taking action to create the new policy?

2. How it will work once it has been put in place?

To refine these factors you should use the key words in the topic to ask some more specific questions:

• What is the most likely group to implement or put the policy into effect a practical sense?

• What type of action is proposed by the topic? (If it’s a ban, for instance, you have to stop the activity altogether).

• Are there any additional actions that you’d like to add as part of your policy? (Additional actions are a great way to increase the effectiveness of a policy, but teams should remember that they almost always come with consequences).

Example

That we should ban fast food companies like McDonald’s and KFC from Australia:

• Which group is most likely to be able to implement this policy?
  — Only the government can control businesses in this way.

• What type of action is proposed?
  — A ban is defined in the topic.

• Are there any additional actions to extend your policy?
  — In this case, the government would monitor and subsequently ban new or existing businesses that fell into the ‘fast food’ category.

Your model might look like this:

The government will ban fast food outlets such as McDonald’s and KFC from operating in Australia as soon as possible. Any other business that falls into the ‘fast food category’ (a multinational company serving cheap and unhealthy food) would also be banned.

In the past, the questions of ‘when’ or ‘where’ a policy should be implemented have been fussed over in models, however these questions are often largely arbitrary and have little impact on the debate. As a general rule, the policy should be implemented in the widest jurisdiction you could control, and timing would be as soon as practicable. Contestation around elements of timing, cost and scope tends to be seen as erroneous and not in the true spirit of the debate.

Remember; when creating a model, it should always affirm the topic that has been provided in a reasonable and effective way, it should not be used as a tool to reduce or narrow the debate.