theNational Civic SocietyUnited States
theNational Civic Society
The National Civic Society brings free speech, bipartisan civil dialogue, and critical thinking to high schools across America

Most of what you believe, you have never had to argue for.

Read our mission

How our debates work

01
A topic gets chosen
Members submit proposed topics. The chapter's chair narrows these to three, and the membership votes on which one becomes the next debate.
02
The room votes first
Everyone votes on the motion before anyone speaks. It is a private ballot by QR code.
03
Two members argue each side
Two members argue for the motion and two against, with open forum between rounds. Any other member may join in from the floor without signing up.
04
The room votes again
The side that changes more minds wins, even if it finishes in the minority.

The side that wins is the one that changed the most minds, not the one that started ahead. Every result in the archive is scored that way.

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Active chapters
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Members nationwide
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Debates held
Debate with us.
Join your school's chapter to vote, submit topics, and speak in debates, or start a chapter at your own school.

About the National Civic Society

A bipartisan society for civil dialogue at American high schools

Most students form political views without ever having to defend them to someone who disagrees. Classroom discussion tends to reward agreement, and online argument rewards contempt. Neither produces the experience of persuading someone else, or of being persuaded. The National Civic Society (N.C.S.) exists to give students that experience regularly, through civil dialogue rather than partisan point-scoring, in a setting where changing one's mind is the point rather than a concession.

N.C.S. grew out of a society founded at Seattle Academy in 2025. A small group of students drawn to large, difficult questions found no place at school to discuss them, respectfully and across different friend groups, backgrounds, and political views, so they founded one.

Once the society was established, its founders created the National Civic Society to bring it to other schools. Each chapter is nonpartisan and student-led, and runs its debates the same way. Any high school in the country may start one.

The room votes before and after every debate, so the measure of a debate is persuasion rather than performance. Speaking loudest or first sets a member back, not ahead. Any member present may speak, so the club is not four speakers and an audience. N.C.S. takes no institutional position of its own, regardless of political affiliation. Members argue every side of a question, sometimes a position they do not personally hold, and the result goes to whichever side changes more minds through civil dialogue, not volume. Some members join to sharpen how they argue, others to grow more comfortable speaking before a room, and many simply to spend an hour in a genuine, bipartisan conversation with people they disagree with.

See the Schedule for what is coming up, or the Archive for how past debates were decided.

Joining N.C.S. gives you a place to argue difficult questions with people who see them differently, and to work through them in the open. We would be glad to have you.

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Schedule

Many chapters meet during lunch, twice a month, but each chapter sets its own cadence in Settings.

Vote

Vote on the next topic

Pick the submission you'd most like to see debated. You can change your pick until voting closes.

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Results are hidden until voting closes.
Submit a topic

Submit a topic

Members submit proposed topics. The chapter's chair shortlists three of them, and the membership votes on which one becomes the next debate. Write a claim someone could stand up and deny: one sentence, specific enough that a person could take the other side.

What makes a topic work
Broad enough to open onto several arguments, not just one study or figure. Genuinely contested in your room: ask around before submitting. Avoid framing it as "___ does more harm than good," which tends to collapse into a contest of anecdotes. A trade-off ("X is worth the cost of Y") or a question of whether something is still necessary usually produces a stronger debate than a straight yes-or-no question.
One sentence. It must work both ways, so someone can take the other side.
The shortlist is built from this, not from the topic alone.
Submit ahead for a specific meeting, even one several weeks out, not just the next one.
1 of 2 submissions used this cycle
Every debate, every result

Archive

The room votes before and after. The side that moves more of the room wins, even if the other side still holds more of it at the end.

For Against Before the debate
Nationwide

Chapters

Founding Active Pending Inquiry
Do not see your school above?
The list above is every current chapter. If your school is not on it, any high school may start one. Register and choose "Request a chapter" from the school list to begin.
Standing orders · rev. 5

Rules of procedure

The procedures governing a debate. A chapter may adapt these where another approach suits its circumstances. Any variation should be recorded and reported to the Society.

1 · Selecting a topic

1.1
Any member may submit a topic
Submissions include the proposed topic and a brief explanation of why it merits debate.
1.2
A topic is stated as a thesis
It should read as a position that a member could argue for or against, in the form of a complete assertion. "Immigration" is a subject. "Immigration should be substantially expanded" is a topic.
1.3
The chair selects three submissions
The chair reviews all submissions and puts three before the membership.
1.4
The membership selects among the three
The topic receiving the most votes becomes the subject of the next debate.
1.5
Topics are published two weeks in advance
Members should have time to prepare before the meeting.

2 · The chair

2.1
The chair is appointed for each meeting
The president appoints a chair for each debate. The position rotates, and a member who chairs one meeting may debate in the next.
2.2
The chair runs the meeting and does not debate in it
The chair opens the meeting, keeps time, signals with the gavel, counts both votes, and announces the result.
2.3
Four members debate and the remainder are the floor
Two members argue for the topic and two against. Every other member present may speak from the floor.

3 · The gavel

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One strike
The speaker should conclude the sentence they are on and stop.
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Two strikes
The speaker's time has expired.

The chair signals with the gavel rather than interrupting verbally. The signals are explained at the first meeting of the year so members are familiar with them before they are used.

4 · Conduct of a debate

4.1
The timer is visible to the entire room
The countdown is displayed on the room's screen rather than to the speaker alone.
4.2
The debate opens directly into open forum
Following the first vote, the four speakers begin the exchange. There are no prepared opening speeches by default. A chapter may add a brief uninterrupted statement from each side if it prefers.
4.3
Open forum is unrestricted
Members speak as often as they wish and are not required to alternate. Where one member is preventing others from being heard, the chair intervenes and directs the exchange to another speaker.
4.4
Floor contributions are assertions rather than questions
A member speaking from the floor makes an argument of their own. Each contribution is limited to 45 seconds.
4.5
Speakers determine which floor points to address
No speaker is obliged to respond to a particular contribution from the floor.
4.6
The side arguing for the topic closes last
Closings are delivered by the opposing side first, then by the side arguing in favor.
4.7
The chair restates the question at the midpoint
Between the two open forum blocks, the chair restates the topic and summarizes the disagreement as it currently stands.
4.8
Floor rounds accommodate changes to the schedule
Where the debate is running ahead of time, the chair may add a fourth floor contribution. Where it is running behind, a round may be reduced to two. Floor time is not reallocated to a main speaker.

5 · Schedule of a debate

0:00
Chair opens the meetingTopic, procedure, gavel
1:00
1:00
First vote
1:00
2:00
Open forum
7:15
9:15
| First floor round3 × 45s
2:15
11:30
Open forumChair restates the topic first
7:15
18:45
| Second floor round3 × 45s
2:15
21:00
Open forumFinal exchange
5:00
26:00
|| Closing against
0:45
26:45
|| Closing in favor
0:45
27:30
Second voteResult announced
2:00

Debate 29:30 · Buffer 2:30 · Meeting 32:00. The buffer accounts for transitions between segments and time lost to equipment and movement. Alternative structures are in the Admin run-sheet editor.

6 · Voting

6.1 Method
Private ballot from your phoneMembers vote through the Home page while the chair has a vote open. A chapter may adopt another method at the chair's discretion.
6.2 Timing
Once before, once afterThe room votes at the opening and at the close. There is no midpoint vote.
6.3 Result
Decided by the larger change in the voteThe side that moves more of the room toward its position prevails, regardless of which side holds the majority at the close. Both counts are announced and entered in the chapter record.

7 · Selection of speakers

7.1
Members volunteer and the chair selectsThe chair fills the four positions, taking into account how recently and how often each member has spoken.
7.2
Members who have spoken less recently take precedenceA member may volunteer again immediately after speaking, but preference goes to members who have not spoken recently or at all.

8 · Procedure and conduct

8.1
The chair rules on questions of procedure during a debate
A procedural question raised during a debate is decided by the chair at the time, and the debate continues. The ruling may be revisited afterward.
8.2
Matters of conduct are addressed after the meeting
Where conduct does not require the debate to be halted, the chair or the advisor raises it with the member privately once the meeting has concluded.
8.3
The chair may ask a member to withdraw
Where a member's conduct prevents the debate from continuing, the chair may ask them to leave for the remainder of the meeting. The advisor is informed the same day.
8.4
Chapters may adapt these procedures
A chapter may vary its practice where another approach suits its circumstances. Variations should be recorded and reported to the Society.
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Chair's run sheet

Chairing tonight: —.

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Live00:00 / 29:30
Open
Chair opens
Topic, rules, format
1:00
Next upOpening vote

One strike: finish the sentence and conclude. Two strikes: time has ended. Timings are set in Admin. The live before/after vote is run from Operations.

Leaders only

Admin

Settings here apply to your chapter only. Running a debate cycle, including topics, voting, and the live ballot, is all in Operations now.

Meeting formats & run sheetApplies to the Chair console

Content 29:30 Buffer 10:30 Meeting 40:00
Anonymous reports2 unread
Roster— members
MemberRoleFloor
Leaders only

Settings

Set when each debate happens, when voting and submissions close, and other chapter-wide details. Changes apply as soon as you save.

Debate schedule6 upcoming meetings

Looking for topic submissions or voting? These have moved to Operations, where everything about running a debate cycle now lives in one place.

Meeting detailsApplies chapter-wide
The Chair console's buffer total in Admin is measured against this.
Leaders only

Operations

Everything about running the current debate cycle, including topic submissions, voting, and the live in-meeting ballot, lives here, in one place.

Cycle scheduleOne spot for submissions & voting
When members can start submitting topics for the next open meeting.
After this, no new topics can be submitted.
When the shortlisted topics become visible on the Home page, so members can prepare.
When members can start voting on the shortlisted topics.
After this, pick the winner below and set it as the meeting's topic.
Submitted topicsAll submissions: choose up to 3 to shortlist

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Shortlisted: up for voteLive rankings

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Live ballotNo vote open

Members vote from their own phone on the Home page while a vote is open. Nobody, including you, can see how any individual voted. Only the totals below are visible.

National admin only

Chapter requests

Approving a request creates the chapter and automatically moves anyone waiting on it out of the Pending Chapter.

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