A politics and government proposition should address an issue of relevance to which members of the audience will feel a connection. For instance, the proposition, "The United States federal government should initiate a nuclear power initiative," would be relevant to an American audience while proposition, "The Russian government should grant independence to the Chechen Republic," would not.
Possible politics and government propositions are as follows:
United States Congressmen should be subject to term limits.
The government should censor violent music lyrics.
To preserve Social Security, the age of eligibility must be raised.
Government officials should personally reimburse the taxpayers when maleficence occurs in their departments.
Discussions of religion and morality are sure to peak the listeners' interest but also open the possibility of intense controversy and in some cases visceral reaction. Speech givers are well advised to avoid overly controversial topics such as abortion. The policy question should instead introduce the possible application of moral concepts to relevant situations that may not have been previously considered by the audience and where the members of the audience may have yet to formulate deeply held opinions.
Here are some ideas for possible religious and moral proposition statements:
Human cloning should only occur with the consent of the person being cloned.
Church leaders have a responsibility to speak against immoral government politicians and polices, even if it affects their church's tax status.
Consumers tacitly support slave labor when they purchase products made by child laborers.
This proposition statement should allow the speaker to explain his view of the duty of corporations and businesses to contribute to society.
Possible corporate ethics propositions include the following:
Instead of sending charity to distant locations, corporations should place priority on giving to local charities.
When stock prices fall, corporate officials should return corporate bonuses to the shareholders.
Privately owned businesses should not receive taxpayer dollars from the government.
Questions of cultural or societal issues should feature current and relevant events. An audience will likely respond to a current events proposition with passionate interest. An audience could respond to dated or irrelevant subject with a lack of interest.
Consider the following possible cultural and societal issue propositions:
Collegiate athletes should receive compensation for playing revenue-generating sports.
Hollywood production companies must only hire actors and actresses who are positive role models and who avoid getting into trouble.
The American education system benefits from the increase in homeschooling.