Immigration · Democrats vs Republicans
For people who talk politics
Political questions people are already arguing about.
Start with the Democratic versus Republican fault lines, challenge the two-party system from the Independent lane, or browse 36 questions across public life. Use the guides to sharpen your view, then debate another person live.
Kelson Vibber, CC0Left vs right
Pick a side. Defend it.
Common Democratic and Republican cases on the questions people actually fight about. Choose one and Debatable carries the question and your side into a public challenge.
Taxes · Democrats vs Republicans
Should the U.S. raise taxes on corporations and the wealthiest households?
Common Democratic case
Raise top and corporate taxes to fund public services and make the tax code more equal.
Defend this case →
Common Republican case
Keep taxes lower to reward investment, hiring, and economic growth.
Defend this case →
Read the full issue brief
Health care · Democrats vs Republicans
Should the government guarantee universal health coverage?
Common Democratic case
Guarantee broader coverage through a larger federal role and stronger public benefits.
Defend this case →
Common Republican case
Preserve private choice and use competition, transparency, and targeted support to lower costs.
Defend this case →
Read the full issue brief
Climate and energy · Democrats vs Republicans
Should Washington speed the shift from fossil fuels through clean-energy rules and subsidies?
Common Democratic case
Use federal investment and standards to accelerate cleaner energy and reduce emissions.
Defend this case →
Common Republican case
Expand domestic energy production and cut federal mandates that raise costs or restrict supply.
Defend this case →
Read the full issue brief
Gun policy · Democrats vs Republicans
Should federal gun laws be stricter?
Elections · Democrats vs Republicans
Should federal elections require government-issued photo ID?
Education · Democrats vs Republicans
Should public education money follow students to private or charter schools?
Policing · Democrats vs Republicans
Should federal police funding depend on national accountability standards?
Position framing follows the parties' published national platforms: Democratic platform and Republican platform. The summaries identify a common case for each side. They do not assign a belief to every party member.
The Independent lane
Not left or right.
Independents and third-party voters do not share one platform. These questions put the case for more room outside the two major parties against the case for the system as it is.
Independent candidates · Independent vs two-party system
Should voters back independent candidates even when they are unlikely to win?
Independent case
Vote for the strongest candidate and build an alternative over time; strategic voting keeps the two-party lock in place.
Defend this case →
Two-party case
Work through a major-party primary because elections allocate power now and a low-polling independent can split a coalition.
Defend this case →
Ranked-choice voting · Independent vs two-party system
Should federal elections use ranked-choice voting?
Open primaries · Independent vs two-party system
Should states replace party primaries with open top-four primaries?
Debate access · Independent vs two-party system
Should major televised debates include more independent and third-party candidates?
Election-system context follows the nonpartisan NCSL guide to ranked-choice voting, its primary-system guide, and FEC debate rules.
36 questions shown
Kelson Vibber, CC0
3 questions
Elections & democracy
Who gets a vote, how representation works, and what democratic participation can demand of people.
Democracy
Should the Electoral College Be Abolished?
Majoritarianism vs federalism. Is the system for majorities or for unions of states?
Democracy
Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16?
Civic competence vs democratic representation. Should the franchise track competence to vote, or stake in the future?
Democracy
Should Voting Be Mandatory?
Representation vs compulsion. Does making turnout a legal duty produce a more representative democracy than the freedom to abstain protects?
Lance Cheung, USDA, public domain
6 questions
Economy & public services
Wages, wealth, health care, education, and the policies that decide who pays and who benefits.
Economy
Is Universal Basic Income a Good Idea?
Universality vs targeting. Does an unconditional floor buy enough security to justify paying people who do not need it?
Economy
Should the Minimum Wage Be Raised?
Worker income vs employment effects. Are the employment effects large enough to offset the income gain?
Economy
Should Billionaires Exist?
Distributive justice vs incentive effects. Is extreme wealth a sign of innovation rewarded, or of capture extracted?
Economy
Should the Government Provide Universal Healthcare?
Aggregate coverage vs implementation cost. Does the coverage gain exceed the transition cost?
Economy
Should College Be Free?
Access vs incentive design. Does free tuition fix the access problem or just the price problem?
Economy
Should Junk Food Be Taxed?
Health externality vs regressive cost. Does the health gain exceed the regressive cost?
Kristin Hardwick, CC0
11 questions
Technology & power
Who controls the systems shaping speech, work, privacy, markets, and public decisions.
Technology
Should AI Be Regulated?
Safety vs innovation. Does binding regulation prevent more harm than the innovation and security ground it costs?
Technology
Should the Government Control AI?
Public accountability vs state capture. Is the state the right actor to govern AI?
Technology
Should the US Ban TikTok?
Security vs speech. Is the security threat specific enough to justify silencing a platform 150 million Americans speak on?
Technology
Should Social Media Companies Be Broken Up?
Antitrust remedy vs interoperability path. Is breakup the right remedy, or does interoperability fix the harm at lower cost?
Technology
Should the Government Monitor Citizens Online?
Security ground vs proportionality. Can targeted monitoring be operationally separated from mass collection?
Technology
Should Cryptocurrency Be Regulated?
Investor protection vs innovation ground. Does treating crypto as a security protect users without killing the underlying tech?
Technology
Should Companies Support the Right to Repair?
Ownership vs product safety. Does ownership include access to parts and manuals, or may manufacturers control repair to protect safety and reliability?
Technology
Should Deepfakes Be Illegal?
Fraud prevention vs satire and speech ground. Can criminal liability target the harm without smothering parody, art, and speech?
Technology
Should AI Be Used in Policing?
Bias amplification vs reduction. Does an AI tool amplify or reduce the bias of the institution that deploys it?
Technology
Should AI Be Used in Hiring?
Scale efficiency vs algorithmic discrimination. Does an AI screen reduce or scale up the bias of the firm using it?
Technology
Should AI-Generated Content Be Labeled?
Transparency vs enforceability. Does labeling work as a remedy, or is it security theater?
Architect of the Capitol, public domain
8 questions
Rights, law & public life
The boundary between personal freedom, collective rules, public safety, and institutional power.
Rights & law
Should Marijuana Be Legalized?
Harm reduction vs public health risk. Does legalization reduce or expand the aggregate harm of cannabis use?
Rights & law
Should Prisons Be Abolished?
Restoration vs incapacitation. Can a non-carceral system handle the cases prisons are meant for?
Rights & law
Should Vaping Be Banned?
Youth harm vs harm reduction. Whose health does the policy primarily serve?
Rights & law
Should Sports Betting Be Legal?
Harm reduction vs harm expansion. Does a legal, regulated market reduce total gambling harm, or does it manufacture more harm than it displaces?
Rights & law
Should Cars Be Banned in City Centers?
Public space reclaim vs access for the dependent. Is the access cost to the dependent worth the public-space gain?
Rights & law
Should Books Be Banned in Schools?
Curation vs censorship. Is removing a contested book from a school shelf legitimate age-based curation or censorship by another name?
Rights & law
Should Social Media Be Banned for Minors?
Harm vs enforceability. Does a hard ban prevent more harm than it causes, and can it be enforced without surveilling everyone?
Rights & law
Is Cancel Culture Good for Society?
Accountability vs due process. When institutions will not act, is collective social pressure a legitimate accountability tool, or a punishment system with no process and no exit?
U.S. Department of Energy, public domain
8 questions
Climate, science & the future
Energy, emerging technology, the environment, and how much risk public policy should accept.
Climate & science
Is Nuclear Energy Worth the Risk?
Firm power vs cost. Is firm, carbon-free power worth the cost and the tail risk, or do renewables get there faster and cheaper?
Climate & science
Is AI Bad for the Environment?
Direct footprint vs net climate effect. Is the footprint big enough, and the offsetting use real enough, to call AI a climate harm?
Climate & science
Should Genetic Engineering of Humans Be Allowed?
Therapy and enhancement vs equity and consent. Can therapy and enhancement be drawn as separate categories in practice?
Climate & science
Is Space Exploration Worth the Cost?
Opportunity cost vs the long game. Do the spillovers and the long-horizon coverage justify public money on space while certain needs wait?
Climate & science
Is Veganism Better for the Environment?
Diet math vs farm nuance. Does cutting animal products outright beat changing how they are raised and how much of them we eat?
Climate & science
Should Self-Driving Cars Be Legal?
Statistical lives saved vs accountability gap. Does the aggregate safety gain justify replacing a driver with a model?
Climate & science
Is AI a Threat to Humanity?
Existential risk vs near-term harm framing. Is the danger best fought as existential risk or as present-tense harm?
Climate & science
Should AI Be Allowed in Warfare?
Decision speed vs human dignity. Can law-of-armed-conflict obligations survive autonomous decision speed?
Stop browsing when one gets under your skin.
Enter live matching and make room for someone who thinks you are wrong.