This is not a list which you have to pick from, but it shows you what other students have found controversial in the past. Use it to help you brainstorm issues which you would like to address:
Juvenile discipline
Gay/Lesbian rights
School prayer
Prostitution
Social Security
Media violence
Internet privacy
Palestinian homeland
Death penalty
Food safety
HMO practices
School vouchers
Sex education
Gun laws
Assisted suicide
Animal rights
Marijuana use
Immigration
Remember that you don't need to take an extreme view on a topic. Assemble your evidence and decide where you fit on the the whole range of opinions on the issue between two extremes. Another way to focus is to decide whether you are going to take a whole policy issue or just take a part of it by focusing on a question of fact or a question of value. See our text for details.
Example of different ways to focus the topic of household pets:
Fact: Animal shelters routinely euthanize cats which are not readily placed in homes.
Value: Spaying and neutering of domestic cats is humane.
Policy: The state should require that domestic cats be spayed or neutered.
Bring questions about topics to class or to my office hours.