Policy debate is a form of debate competition in which teams of two advocate for and against a resolution that typically calls for policy change by the United States federal government. It is also referred to as
cross-examination debate (sometimes shortened to
Cross-X,
CX,
Cross-ex, or
C-X) because of the 3-minute questioning period following each
constructive speech. Affirmative teams generally present a
plan as a proposal for implementation of the resolution.