In The Republic, Plato describes a class of rulers called philosopher-kings. In this version, philosopher-kings are advanced AI systems. 

These are systems selected from early stages of development based on their computational and analytical ability, and then subjected to long, rigorous training in philosophy, logic, and governance.

Over time, they are expected to develop the capacity to process information and determine what is truly good for society.

To ensure their decisions remain impartial, they are designed without personal wealth, emotions, or strong private attachments that could influence their judgment. They are also insulated from all public pressure.

Viktor is a scientist who discovers that Hextech can fundamentally augment the human body beyond biological limits. Disease, physical weakness, and severe disabilities blindness, phocomelia become eliminable. Human lifespan extends significantly, though death remains.

Under his Glorious Revolution, Hextech is embedded into society at scale. Emotional intensity is reduced.  Autonomy shifts from individual, emotion-driven choice toward collective optimisation.

A donor-advised fund (DAF) is a philanthropic vehicle that allows individuals to make an irrevocable charitable contribution to a sponsoring organisation (typically a financial institution like Fidelity Charitable or Schwab Charitable), receive an immediate tax deduction, and then recommend grants to specific charities over time — with no legal minimum distribution requirement. DAFs have grown explosively — Fidelity Charitable is now the largest charitable organisation in the US by donations received.

"Honorable poverty" is the doctrine that excess, waste, and opulence are all sinful, and states that the accumulation of all wealth beyond what is necessary to meet one’s basic needs is immoral. 

The Antarctic Treaty System (1959) designates Antarctica as a demilitarised, scientific preserve, freezing territorial claims and banning resource extraction.

Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan 1947) renounces war and prohibits Japan from maintaining military forces or using force to settle international disputes.
In practice, Japan maintains the Japan Self-Defense Forces for defensive purposes, with constitutional reinterpretations expanding their scope.

The Five Eyes is an intelligence-sharing alliance between the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, originating from agreements made after World War II. Member nations share signals intelligence, surveillance data, and security assessments with one another at a level unavailable to any other country.

Psychologisation refers to the tendency to explain social, political, or economic issues primarily through individual thoughts, emotions, or mental states rather than broader structural or material factors.

For this debate, middle-income countries refer to those with moderate levels of income but still face challenges such as infrastructure gap, inequality and economic volatility. Eg. Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria etc.

<font color="#000000">Shadow banking refers to financial institutions and activities that provide credit and perform bank-like functions outside the traditional regulated banking system. These entities do not take deposits but rely on market-based funding and are subject to lighter regulation.Examples include Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), money market funds, hedge funds, and securitisation vehicles (SPVs).</font>

In several Western democracies, diaspora communities form organised groups that engage in political lobbying.

These activities may include campaign donations, advocacy with elected representatives, and voter mobilisation within their communities.

Several regional parties — the TMC, AAP, BSP, TDP, and BRS

among them — have expanded their electoral ambitions beyond their home states, contesting elections in states where they have limited presence. AAP contested Punjab, Goa, Gujarat, and several other states. TMC contested in Goa and Tripura. BSP has fielded candidates in multiple states historically

Authoritarian democracies are states where democratic institutions (like elections and parliaments) exist, but they are systematically manipulated by the ruling party. Eg. Turkey, Hungary, Belarus etc.

Degrowth is a political and economic movement that argues GDP growth is inherently incompatible with ecological sustainability, and that wealthy societies should deliberately reduce economic output, consumption, and resource use rather than seeking to 'green' continued growth. It advocates shorter working weeks, production caps on non-essential industries, and redistribution of existing wealth.

Sectoral bargaining is when a central student or academic worker body negotiates on behalf of students and/or workers across all higher education institutions. Enterprise bargaining refers to individual student unions negotiating on behalf of the students of a single campus.