Why is “resolved” used ahead of a question in a debate title, instead of saying “the Subject, topic” or alike?
Solution 1:
As per Bartelby's:
In 1876 General Henry M. Robert set out to bring the rules of the American Congress to members of ordinary societies with the publication of Pocket Manual of Rules of Order. It sold half a million copies before this revision of 1915 and made Robert’s name synonymous with the orderly rule of reason in deliberative societies.
In Chapter 4:
When a main motion is of such importance or length as to be in writing it is usually written in the form of a resolution; that is, beginning with the words, “Resolved, That,” the word “Resolved” being underscored (printed in italics) and followed by a comma, and the word “That” beginning with a capital “T.”
So, because Robert’s Rules of Order have been a popular framework for American "deliberative societies" they have been adapted and applied to formal debate, so much so that Resolved has become the go-to word to begin your thesis.
Solution 2:
It's just a way of announcing a topic (i.e. a resolution) which will be debated. According to Wikipedia:
In policy debate, a resolution or topic is a normative statement which the affirmative team affirms and the negative team negates. Resolutions are selected annually by affiliated schools.
Solution 3:
In Lincoln-Douglas debate, when a person says something like “Resolved: When in conflict, an individual's freedom of speech should be valued above a community's moral standards,” it means that’s the topic that will be debated.
Saying the word 'resolve' or 'resolved' is actually an abbreviation of the term 'resolution,' which is like saying 'motion.'
If you're debating a subject, imagine you're arguing for a motion to be passed in a vote of some kind. So, you might say "I move to make eating pretzels illegal" or "Motion: to make eating pretzels illegal." Resolution is the same as motion. Saying 'resolved' before a debate represents one debater's stance on the subject either in favor of or in opposition to that resolution.
Solution 4:
It sounds to me as if 'resolved' is being used to mean 'agreed'. Why is'ahead of' now being used everywhere to mean 'before' or 'ready for' or 'in the light of'? It's very annoying.