The status quo. We are seven years into CARD. From one year to the next, the activity has seen major changes, reflecting the turbulence of our political and economic present in the United States. I speak with above average authority on CARD matters having been actively involved each year. However, I still offer a perspective, and perspectives are partial. I think there are some major challenges CARD faces. I’ll bullet-point them briefly, but any could be expanded on further: High overhead...

... so now we have one. CARD is now entering its 7th year of competition. It has seen a lot of changes in that time, whether that be navigating online debate, moving from two independent topics to one topic that overlaps with the NDTCEDA topic, or looking for its identity as a publicly-facing rigorous form of evidence-based debate. Debate formats rest upon deeper theoretical constructions and concepts regarding sound argumentation, but those constructs must also align with the practical,...