Counterplans The Negative’s Best Friend The Negative’s Best Friend

Counterplan Basics  Counterplan is an alternate plan run by the negative  You run counterplans every day  Usually (99% of the time)  It is designed to solve the case advantage  While avoiding a disad

Why are CP’s the neg’s best friend? Counterplans do the following:  Consolidate the debate - one sheet of paper rather than three or four.  Control the Debate – Options  Reframe the Debate – away from the aff case.

Basic Counterplan  Plan: Go to McDonalds for lunch  What are some advantages to doing this?  Counterplan: Go to Wendy’s for lunch  How does this solve the McD’s advantages?

Avoids Disadvantages  What is a disadvantage to going to McDonalds?  What is another disadvantage to going to McDonalds?  Could those be solved by going to Wendy’s?

Topic Examples  AffirmativeCounterplan  USFG should fund, USFG should offer incentives purchase & develop solar for private ventures to power satellites develop SPS  A1. Warming +10A1. Warming +10  A2. Leadership +15A2. Leadership +13  Space Mil Disad -5  Total:  Without the counterplan, the affirmative would win!

Parts of a CP  The Text  (Competition Claim)  Solvency Evidence  Net Benefit (internal or external) Internal – the beneficial result is tied directly to the action of the cp External - can function as a disad on its own

Answering Counterplans  Acronym is PLOTS  Permutation  Links to their disads  Other disads to the Counterplan  Theory Objections  Solvency takeouts

Solvency Takeouts  Doesn’t solve your case  Why might a counterplan that has the USFG fund private company development of SPS not solve the case advantages? 1.Warming? 2.Leadership?

Links to their disads  Links to their disads  How could the privatization counterplan link to the spending disad?  The cooperation disad?

Other Disads to A Counterplan  Affirmative can run disads to a counterplan  Usually the affirmative will skip the uniqueness, and read a two card disad  Can we think of disads?

Theoretical Objections to Counterplans Theoretical objections are reasons why the counterplans might be unfair.

Status of Counterplans  A good cross-x question is: what is the status of your CP?  An unconditional Counterplan has to be defended  A conditional counterplan allows the negative to “switch back” to the status quo in the debate

Status Part 2  A dispositional counterplan is like “limited conditionality.”  We can revert back if you make certain answers  Most judges think some version of dispositionality or conditionality is fair

Permutations  A counterplan must COMPETE: it must provide an answer to the question, why not do both?  A permutation is an affirmative answer that says: we should do both  A permutation is designed to prove, the counterplan doesn’t compete

Answering Permutations  1) Still links to the disadvantages.  So the answer to “why not do both” is the disadvantage  There may be disadvangtes to the permutation by itself, separate from the aff  Two basic answers:  1) we shouldn’t do both  It links to the disadvantages  It has disadvantages to it (do both worse)  2) we can’t do both

Illegitimate Permutations  Permutation has to be the combination of ALL of the PLAN and PART or ALL of the Counterplan  Why must a permutation be all of the plan?  Plans aren’t conditional, you have to defend your plan  If you don’t defend the entire plan, it is called a severence permutation

Other permutations  All of the PLAN and PART or ALL of the Counterplan  Permutation cannot ADD anything into the mix  Intrinsiciness Permutation adds something to the mix  CP is incentives for private ventures  Net benefit is space militarization.  Permute: do the plan, give incentives and ban space militarization.  We can’t run disads, you would always solve for them with your intrinsicness

Some Different Types of Counterplans  Plan Inclusive Counterplans (PICS): does one or more parts of the cp and says the excluded parts are bad  Process counterplans: does the aff through a different process  Agency counterplan: does the aff through a different agency  Advantage counterplans: does something to solve just one specific advantage, not the entire case (→ plank counterplans)

Types of Counterplans, cont.  Uniqueness cp: one the creates artifical uniqueness for a disadvantage  Delay: enacts the plan at a later date and time  Consult: asks for input from another country or entity before enacting the plan