“Off-case” Arguments

1. “Off-case” Arguments Disadvantages

2. What’s a disadvantage (disad/DA)? • Similar to an advantage for the affirmative, but argues that something bad or wrong happens as a result of the affirmative plan. • Does not have to be “topical” – only the “link” has to be topical. • This argument focuses on the “risk” of changing from the status quo – it isn’t certain, but it is a risk. It is a hypothetical: if plan got passed, then ________ would occur.

3. How do you write a disad? You need the following parts: • Link • Uniqueness • Internal Link(s) • Impact Remember that a disadvantage is a causal argument. You are arguing that the PLAN CAUSES SOMETHING BAD.

4. Link • The first thing you need to prove is that the PLAN causes something to occur. • The link does not have to be directly between the plan and the impact, but can be between the plan and an internal link.

5. Internal Link • This is an argument between the link and the impact. • There can be more than one internal link, but every internal link risks weakening the argument. • Look at the next slide and identify the link, the internal link(s) and the impact. • For example, US gives money to AfghanistanThis money trades off with foreign aid to Africa Without foreign aid to Africa, millions will die from AIDS

6. Disadvantage Example • US gives money to Afghanistan • This money trades off with foreign aid to Africa • Without foreign aid to Africa, millions will die from AIDS What part of the disad is missing?

7. Uniqueness • This argument says that the disadvantage will NOT happen in the Status Quo, making plan the only cause. • The link must be unique and all internal links must be unique…go back to the example and provide a uniqueness argument for each link and internal link.

8. Disad example • US gives money to Afghanistan • This money trades off with foreign aid to Africa • Without foreign aid to Africa, millions will die from AIDS What would a uniqueness argument for the link be for this disadvantage? Can you think of anything other than the plan that might cause the disadvantage?

9. Answering Disadvantages • You should try to answer each level of the disadvantage – use a combination of DEFENSE: • Non-unique (other things will cause the bad stuff) • No link (we don’t cause the bad stuff) • No internal link (there is no connection between what the plan causes and the impact) • No impact (the impact either won’t happen or won’t be that bad)

10. Answering Disadvantages • And OFFENSE: • Link-turn: We actually make bad stuff better (requires a non-unique answer as well). • Internal Link-turn: We actually make the bad stuff better (don’t run with a link turn or impact turn – may require a non-unique as well). • Impact turn: What you say is bad is actually good (don’t run with link turns or internal link turns – does not require a non-unique).

11. Some Practice • Write four answers to the disad example. Try to vary your answers – you should answer each part of the disadvantage in some way. • Answer the following: Why is winning a disadvantage a reason to vote negative? What might make winning a debate round on a disadvantage difficult?

12. Another “Off-case” Argument Counterplans

13. To review… • What is a disadvantage? • What are the parts of a disad? • What part is it that says the disad WILL NOT HAPPEN in the status quo? • How many internal links can you have in a disad? • What must the disad LINK to?

14. The Counterplan (AKA “The CP”) • A reasonable alternative policy option comparable to the affirmative case (don’t worry about being non-topical).

15. Counterplan Competition • Must COMPETE with the affirmative case – Doing the counterplan alone must be better than doing both the plan and counterplan (permutation). • Competition stems from either mutual exclusivity(can not do both) OR net benefits(could do both, but it would be worse than just doing counterplan).

16. AFFIRMATIVE The 1AC plan text. The 1AC plan text OR the “permutation”. NEGATIVE The 1NC counterplan text. The 1NC counterplan ALONE. Closer look at competition

17. How to “run” a counterplan… • Counterplan should be in 1NC – it is prime facie, just like the affirmative plan. • Counterplans should consist of the following: • A plan text – phrased much like you would an affirmative plan text. • Ob. I – Competition – here you should explain how the counterplan competes – either mutual exclusivity or net benefits. • Ob II – Solvency – here you should read some evidence about how the counterplan solves the affirmative harms.

18. A counterplan example: • Counterplan text: The USFG should increase funding to Non-governmental Organizations in Afghanistan. • Observation I – Competition The counterplan is net-beneficial because it avoids the corrupt government of Afghanistan. (You would read a disadvantage or case negative about government corruption). • Observation II – Solvency • The counterplan solves for Afghani poverty. • The counterplan solves for anti-US sentiment.

19. What about the permutation? • Your FIRST concern when running a counterplan is why the PERMUTATION would be a bad idea. • For this example, can you think of a reason why giving money to BOTH the government AND the NGOs might be a bad idea? • Always know the answer to the perm!

20. Answering counterplans: • First step –permute the counterplan – this is just making the argument that there is no disadvantage to DOING BOTH. • First ask, can we do both plan and counterplan? (lf yes, it is not mutually exclusive) • If yes, than can we do the combo without any negative repercussions? (If yes, it is not net-beneficial) • Even if you think you CANNOT do both without negatives, make the permutation and force the other team to EXPLAIN why the perm is bad. • If the counterplan does not compete, than there is NO REASON TO VOTE AGAINST THE AFFIRMATIVE.

21. Other ways to answer the CP: • Debate the net-benefit…try to think of reasons why it is not true. • For the example, if you have evidence saying that NGOs actually make the problems worse, or that additional funding is needed to solve government corruption it would answer the net-benefit. Again, no net-benefit = no reason to vote against the affirmative. • Answer the net-benefit as you would any Disad.

22. Still more ways to answer the CP: • Debate the solvency…find a “solvency deficit” in the counterplan – something that your plan solves that the counterplan does not. • For the example, maybe UN leadership provides more resources than NATO – those resources would be a solvency deficit for the counterplan. • Find a disadvantage to doing to the counterplan…

23. Still more ways to answer the CP: • Theory discussions. • “Status” of the CP – conditional, dispositional, unconditional? • Type of CP – Plan Inclusive CP (PIC)? • Fiat challenges. • Multiple Actor Fiat? • Object Fiat? • Negative Fiat in general?

24. Some Practice • Write down three counterplans you can think of that may be useful on this topic. Consider who else other than the US might be able to solve some of these problems. • Write a sample 1NC shell for one of those CPs (without the evidence).