Disads

1. Disads The R

2. How to Know a DA When You See One • A disadvantage tests the opportunity cost of the affirmative • Opportunity cost – the cost related to the next-best choice available to someone who has picked between several mutually exclusivechoices • Do something if its benefit outweighs its opportunity cost!

3. Opportunity Cost in Debate • In debates, opportunity cost is measured in impact calculus • you have to win the DA is bigger, faster, more likely than the aff advantages, or that it makes them worse.

4. The Three Components of a DA • Uniqueness – the impact will not occur in the status quo • Link – a causal connection between the affirmative plan and the negative impact • Sometimes, links have multiple components • Example: • A. Plan drains political capital – its unpopular (link) • B. Political capital key to energy reform (internal link – connects the link to the impact) • Impact – why it matters

5. Example – the CMR DA • A. Uniqueness – civil-military relations high now • B. Link – Plan hurts CMR • C. Impact – CMR critical to military readiness and hegemony • D. Hegemony prevents nuclear war

6. Uniqueness • Predictive evidence – look for cards that don’t just describe the status quo, but make predictive claims about the future • Example: Obama will • Recency– the more recent the evidence, the better • For stuff like politics, you want cards from the past few day

7. Example: Uniqueness Wall

8. Impact Calculus • Magnitude – the impact is bigger than the case • Timeframe – the impact to the DA is faster than the impact to the case • Probability – the impact is more probable than the chance of case harms happening • Turns case – the DA makes the case harms worse than they are in the status quo*** • DA turns case is an “auto kill” for many judges if it is dropped – make SURE you answer it in the 1AR

9. Example: Impact Wall

10. Impact Tips • Read your biggest impact in the 1NC. Things like hegemony, the economy – 2 reasons • You can expand on them in the block – heg etc are controlling impacts meaning they can access almost every smaller impact the aff will read • Avoid the 1AR impact turn – always give yourself the block to get into a big card throwdown • Read new impacts in the block that are hard to impact turn – morality, regional stability, environment, etc.

11. Extending a DA in the Block • Begin with the reasons the disad outweighs case • Avoid long overviews – read clearly in the 1NC so that the judge can hear your evidence and flow your tags - this eliminates the need for lengthy explanations • Separate arguments clearly. • The DA outweighs case • A. Magnitude – • B. Timeframe – • C. Turns the case –

12. Extending a DA • Separate uniqueness, link, and impact. This sounds simple but its important. Have pre-written “walls” of evidence for each part of the DA, so you can save 2NC prep and don’t have to go looking for cards. Front load your best ev and arguments in these walls. • Group parts of the debate • Answer the warrants in their evidence • Outcard them – 3:1 is a good ratio, more is better. For something like politics you need at least 6 uniqueness cards.

13. Answering a DA • You can make both offensive and defensive arguments against a DA • Defensive arguments: non unique, no impact, no link

14. Offense Against a DA • 3 ways to generate offense against a DA • A. The aff solves the impact • B. Impact turn – they say nuclear war bad, you say nuclear war good. They say hegemony good, you say hegemony bad. • C. Link turn – 3 parts • Non unique – energy bill isn’t passing now • No link – answer their link argument – ex: the plan does not drain political capital, because its not controversial • Link turn – the plan generates political capital

15. Straight Turning a DA • If you only make offensive arguments against a DA, it is straight turned – this means it is an advantageto the aff • This means you can’t kick the DA – you’re stuck answering their arguments