This is the primer for the resolution “States should mandate comprehensive sex education in schools”

Primer for the resolution: The U.S. should establish diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

Prepare for this week’s debate on the interstate highway system!

“Regulation” by Nick Youngson is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Since the Cambridge Analytica data scandal in 2016, people have been looking far more closely at the influence held by social media companies due to their ownership and usage of data. People across the political spectrum have been criticizing the immense power held by these companies to not only amplify certain voices but quell and dispose of dissenting views. Whether you agree with their right to do so, it is impossible to deny the immense power very few companies have over the public discourse of the entire planet.

Over the past few decades technology has advanced at an astonishing rate; from floppy disks to early progress in artificial intelligence, things have changed the world around us. Many have seen this advance in technology as a good opportunity to address a problem that has stuck with us since the beginning of time: crime. With advanced facial recognition technology, surveillance cameras on street corners, and an enormous database to store every individual’s information, law enforcement can easily identify and track down those breaking the law with a simple search.

Over the last decade, voters have voiced concerns on the increasing role of money in politics. The claim of campaign finance disparities and their potential to subvert our democracy propelled the issue to the forefront political discourse. Leading politicians such as Bernie Sanders to speak out against the issue, warning that “wealthy contributors can literally buy politicians and elections by spending hundreds of millions of dollars in support of the candidates of their choice.” The U.S. has regulations governing campaign finance and the stringency of these rules vary widely over the years. What has contributed to the growing importance and attention dedicated to campaign finance law?