Introduction to the Neg Casey Parsons

What is the neg? In novice policy debate, the neg is just defending that the status quo is better than the plan This becomes more complex in varsity debate but we’ll focus on novice debate for now

Neg Arguments The neg has two generic categories of arguments On-case arguments directly respond to claims that the aff makes Off-case arguments are the neg’s main arguments – they compose the neg case

On-Case Arguments These are typically indicts to the stock issues of the aff Possible examples Inherency arguments – reasons why the aff will happen in the status quo Solvency deficits – reasons the aff doesn’t work or doesn’t solve Impact defense – reasons why the affs impacts are not a big deal

Off-Case Arguments There are only four off-case arguments the neg can make These are: Topicality Disadvantages Counterplans Kritiks We’ll just worry about disadvantages for now

Disadvantages Disadvantages tell the story of what happens when we do the plan Disadvantages (disads, DA’s) have four components: Uniqueness – Why the disadvantage doesn’t happen in the status quo and is unique to the plan Link – What happens as a result of doing the plan Internal Link – Kind of like the result of the link, it’s the last part of the story Impact – Why we care about the Internal Link

Spending DA For the sake of simplicity, we’ll talk about a super generic disadvantage that you should never actually run. It’s called “spending” Here’s the outline: Uniqueness – The economy is doing well in the status quo This is why the disadvantage isn’t “triggered” in the status quo and is unique to the world of the aff Link – The plan tanks economic growth and leads to economic decline This is what happens if we do the plan Internal Link – Economic decline leads to regional conflicts This is what happens at the end of the link story Impact – Regional conflicts escalate to nuclear war We care about regional conflicts because they can escalate to bigger conflicts