1NCs

1NCs, or First Negative Constructives, are the first substantive speeches delivered by the negative team in many policy debate formats. They occur after the affirmative’s 1AC and establish the negative’s case, set the ground for the round, and counter the affirmative’s plan. The speech typically presents a framework for evaluating the debate and introduces the main lines of attack, such as disadvantages, counterplans, and topicality challenges. Some 1NCs also include a kritik, or K, arguing against underlying assumptions or the language and values of the affirmative case.

Common content includes a series of argumentative blocks: disadvantages that link the plan to negative impacts, a counterplan as an alternative solution, solvency analysis to show why the counterplan or other negative strategies should be adopted, and a topicality defense if the plan is claimed to be within the resolution. A kritik may question the ethics, politics, or epistemology of the affirmative case and propose an alternative framework for evaluating impacts. The 1NC also often sets a voting framework to guide the judge’s evaluation.

Timing and format vary by circuit, but a typical 1NC lasts about four to six minutes in many high school and college formats and is followed by the 2AC. The 1NC is intended to disrupt the affirmative’s flow, present the negative’s preferred path for the round, and prepare responses for the subsequent rebuttals. Together with the 1AC and later speeches, it shapes the debate’s trajectory and determines the information available to the judge.