Counterplans?
• Debate should be a means of significantly
improving one's education through analytical
development and extension of advocacy
positions. The negative strategy of
counterplan would seem to be highly
congruous, if not essential, with that ideal.
-- Steve Mancuso – University of Kentucky, 1981
Definition
• A counterplan is a proposal introduced by the
negative that is not the affirmative plan and
not the status quo. The negative argues that
the counterplan is a superior alternative to
the plan. The affirmative argues that the plan
is a superior alternative to the counterplan.
A Counterplan Is
• An argument read by the negative in the 1NC
• A proposal for change — important that it is not the same change as the
affirmative.
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• Competitive with the affirmative plan — the negative must force the judge
to choose between the plan and the counterplan.
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• An opportunity cost of the affirmative plan -The negative’s goal is to
persuade the judge that the costs of foreclosing the option of the
counterplan outweigh the benefits of enacting the plan.
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• A strategic tool for the negative — the counterplan is a powerful weapon
in the negative’s arsenal. It allows the negative to control the debate: they
can concede that there are problems with the status quo but still argue
that the plan is a bad idea.
Strategic Value
• Sometimes the status quo is indefensible — affirmative teams tend to be
strong at pointing out problems with the status quo but weak at
identifying effective solutions.
• They allow the negative to control the focus of the debate — the
affirmative has control at the beginning of the debate because they get to
choose their plan and advantages, forcing the negative to react.
Counterplans give the negative a chance to claim some control by
introducing their own proposal for change.
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• They allow the negative to narrow the debate — many counterplans
arguably solve the whole affirmative case. The negative can therefore use
a counterplan to narrow the debate: instead of defeating Advantage 1 and
Advantage 2, the negative can simply argue that the counterplan solves
Advantage 1 and Advantage 2.
Anatomy of a Counterplan
• Text — like the plan text, this is simply the proposal being
introduced by the negative. It is read at the beginning of
the counterplan shell in the 1NC.
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• Solvency — evidence needs to be presented that the
counterplan solves the case. This evidence is read after the
text of the counterplan in the 1NC.
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• Competition — the negative needs to explain why the
counterplan competes with the plan. This is sometimes
done immediately after the text of the counterplan and
sometimes after the solvency evidence is introduced.
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2 Ways to Compete
• Mutual Exclusivity — this is a fancy way of saying that
the plan and the counterplan cannot be done
simultaneously, not just that it is a bad idea to do them
simultaneously.
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• Net-Benefits — this means that there is a disadvantage
to doing the plan alone or the plan and counterplan
together that doing the counterplan alone avoids.
While it is possible to do both the plan and the
counterplan at the same time, the negative argues that
doing the counterplan alone is the best option.
Net Benefits
Internal – the beneficial result is tied directly
to the action of the cp (example:
consulting the European Union generates
better relations with the United States)
External - can function as a disad on its own
(avoids the link to politix)
Counterplan Competition
• Textual competition: strict reading of the plan
text vs. strict reading of the CP text
• Functional competition: what the plan
actually does: clarification of the plan text,
determined by CX explanation and by
evidence.
Generic versus Specific
It’s good to have both generic CPs prepped as
well as specific ones
Generic Counterplans apply to most affs
Specific Counterplans are for a particular plan
and usually lead to more clash and detailed
debate
Example
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Advantage: I love Taylor Swift
and wants to listen to her music
and support everything she does
Plan: I should buy all of Taylor
Swift’s music on iTunes
Disadvantage – buying all of
Taylor Swift’s music will cost
$9,000
If I want to listen to Taylor Swift,
it would be a better idea to just
stream it on Spotify (the counterplan)
What Makes It Better?
• Avoids the disadvantages to doing the plan
• Streaming on Spotify would be free so I save
$9,000
• Solves the advantages to doing the plan
• I will be able to listen to Taylor Swift music
and support her
Permutations
• In order to test the competitiveness of a counterplan,
the affirmative can introduce a permutation in the 2AC.
A permutation is a combination of the plan and
counterplan; the most basic permutation is all of the
plan and all or part of the counterplan.
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• The goal of a permutation is to demonstrate that the
plan and the counterplan could be simultaneously
adopted and that this combination is as good as or
better than adopting the counterplan alone. It is like a
“no link” argument against a disadvantage; it asks the
question “Why can’t we do both?”.
Status of Counterplans
• The negative does not need to commit to extending a counterplan in the
2NR when it is introduced in the 1NC. In many cases, the negative will
want to maintain the option either to extend the counterplan or to extend
their attacks against the case. This gives the negative a multi-faceted
strategy for defeating the affirmative as the debate evolves.
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• In order to preserve the option of defending the status quo instead of the
counterplan, the negative needs to defend their right to “kick” the
counterplan. Whether and under what conditions it is acceptable to kick a
counterplan is a debatable issue. In general, the negative will want to
retain the right to revert to the status quo instead of the counterplan
while the affirmative will want the negative to have to choose which
option they will defend at the beginning of the debate.
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3 Types of Status
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The question of whether the negative can kick a counterplan is the question of the counterplan’s
status (or disposition). The affirmative should ask in the cross-examination of the 1NC for the status
of the counterplan (“What is the status of the counterplan? Under what conditions can the negative
revert to defending the status quo?”). The negative can choose one of three possible responses:
The counterplan is “Conditional” — this means the negative can revert to defending the status quo
at any time. This is the most flexible status for the negative because it gives them the option of
going for either the counterplan or the status quo.
The counterplan is “Unconditional” — this means the negative cannot revert to defending the
status quo and must go for the counterplan. This is the least flexible status for the negative because
it locks them in to choosing between the counterplan and the status quo in the 1NC.
The counterplan is “Dispositional” — this means the negative can revert to defending the status
quo at any time unless the affirmative “straight turns” the counterplan. While this is a complicated
concept, it basically means that the negative only has to give up the status quo if the affirmative
concedes the “link” to the counterplan.
Types of Counterplans
Agent CPs
• Agent counterplans. An agent counterplan is a
counterplan that uses a different agent than the
affirmative does.
• Example: Plan: The United States federal
government should distribute Taylor Swift CDs to
high school debate classes
• Counterplan: The United States Supreme Court
should rule on X relevant test case that Taylor
Swift CD’s should be distributed to high school
debate classes
PICs
• Plan inclusive counterplans. A plan inclusive
counterplan or “PIC” is a counterplan that does
one or more parts of the affirmative’s plan and
argues that the part, or parts, that it doesn’t do
are bad.
• Often very strategic; on this topic people will
probably PIC out of particular agencies
• Example: Plan is to distribute Taylor Swift CDs to
schools; counterplan is to remove out of one
school where 90% of students already listen to
Taylor Swift
Process Counterplans
• Process counterplans. A process counterplan
implements the affirmative’s plan through a
different process than the negative uses. Most
of these counterplans claim that they are
different than process the affirmative uses –
fiat, which according to modern
understandings, passes the plan
unconditionally and forever.
Process CPs Example
• Plan: United States Federal government
should play Taylor Swift in its all federal
government buildings
• Counterplan: The United States federal
government should institute a referendum
concerning whether Taylor Swift should be
played in all its federal government buildings
Uniqueness Counterplans
• Uniqueness counterplans. These are the most difficult
counterplans to understand and these counterplans are presented
by the negative far less frequently than any others. The basic idea
behind a uniqueness counterplan is that the negative can run a
counterplan to make the disadvantage unique.
• For example, say the negative runs a Spending disadvantage and
the affirmative says, “Non-unique – We are about to spend another
$80 billion” in Iraq. The negative says, “Counterplan – don’t spend
that $80 billion in Iraq.” The negative will argue that their
counterplan is net-beneficial because it is undesirable to spend
money (they save money relative to the status quo) and that the
permutation to do both still involves the plan spending money,
which is bad.
Consult CP
• Consult CPs basically say do the entire aff but
consult a country or entity first
• Example– Plan: Lauren should play Taylor Swift music all day
long
– Consult CP: Lauren should consult her roommate
about playing Taylor Swift music all day long (with
the net benefit of her roommate’s sanity)
Consult CPs
Why might the consult counterplan not be the best
counterplan?
1) You could literally consult any country in the
world (although the negative will say that lit
checks- there is not information on consulting
Estonia about surveillance)
2) Not really textually competitive- just adds the
words “consult X” to the plan text
3) Not functionally competitive- no specific
evidence about consulting a particularly country
about our plan
Advantage CPs
• These try to solve the advantages of the aff
through a different mechanism
• Example- the plan is to reduce surveillance for
deportation, detention, and raids
(immigration essentially) with the advantage
of the economy
• What might be a better way to solve the
economy?
Affirmative Answers to CPs
• Introduction (STOP)
• When answering a counterplan, the affirmative
has four basic options: Solvency, Theory, Offense,
and Permutation (STOP). As when debating
against disadvantages, the affirmative should
introduce several arguments in the 2AC and
selectively extend some but not all of them in the
1AR and 2AR. The overarching goal is to prove
that the plan is better than the counterplan, but
the specifics vary depending on the argument
being extended.
Answering CPs- STOP
• Solvency
• This is the most basic response to a counterplan.
In the same way that the negative challenges the
solvency of the affirmative plan, the affirmative
should challenge the solvency of the negative
counterplan. Solvency arguments need to be
comparative and specific to the counterplan.
Attacks that apply both to the plan and the
counterplan are not helpful because they do not
help the affirmative prove that the plan is better
than the counterplan.
STOP
• Theory
• The affirmative can argue that a counterplan is
theoretically illegitimate—either because it
exceeds the appropriate scope of negative fiat
or because its status is unfair to the
affirmative. These arguments are discussed in
more detail on the “Counterplan Theory” page
of this handout.
STOP
• Offense
• In the same way that the negative can read
disadvantages against the affirmative plan, the
affirmative can read disadvantages against the
negative counterplan. These disadvantages need
to be specific to the counterplan; as with
solvency arguments, disadvantages that link to
both the plan and the counterplan are not helpful
because they do not prove that the plan is better
than the counterplan.
STOP
• Permutation
• A permutation argues that the plan and
counterplan could be enacted together and
that doing so would be a better option than
doing the counterplan alone.
Common Permutations
• The Classic Permutation – Do Both
• The Logical Permutation - all of plan and the
logical parts of the counterplan.
• Perm Do the CP
Abusive Permutations
• Severance Permutations - Do part of the aff plan and
all or part of counterplan
• Intrinsic Permutations – Do the plan, all, part, or none
of counterplan, and an action found in neither the plan
nor the counterplan.
• Time Frame Permutations - any of the above
permutations that also changes the time of adoption of
the plan or counterplan (usually “delay” counterplans)
Extending CPs
• Introduction
• The negative’s goal when extending a
counterplan is to prove that the counterplan
alone is a better option than the plan or the
combination of the plan and the counterplan.
To do so, they must defeat the affirmative’s
solvency, theory, offense, and permutation
arguments.
Extend Like a DA
• Extend Like A DA
• The extension model for a counterplan in the negative block is very similar
to the one used to extend disadvantages. As an overview, explain what the
counterplan does and why it is net-beneficial. Then answer each of the
2AC’s arguments in the order that they were made by referencing them,
extending 1NC evidence, and reading additional evidence. For example:
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• 2AC #1—they say “permute — do both,” but this links to the Election DA—
Obama would still take the blame for federal spending, costing him the
election. Only the counterplan alone avoids this disadvantage.
Additionally, the permutation fails to promote state innovation: it forces
states to follow the federal government’s lead instead of allowing them to
be laboratories for infrastructure—that’s Edwards.
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Extending a CP
• Identify A Net-Benefit
• Don’t forget that In order to be viable, the
Counterplan needs a net-benefit.
• Say CP solves 100% of the case”
OR
• “CP solves X advantage and the net benefit turns
the other”
– 20-30 seconds on why
• 30 seconds on the net-benefit explanation –
impact calc
Counterplans on this Topic
• Predictions?
Surveillance Counterplans
• The states counterplan is functionally not a thing on
this topic because only the federal government can
regulate surveillance
• Agent Counterplans- If the Affirmative specifies their
agent (courts, legislative, executive), the negative could
counterplan to use a different agent and read
disadvantages that to the agent the Affirmative
specifies. For example, if the Affirmative uses the
courts (usually the Supreme Court) as the actor, the
Negative could counterplan to have Congress amend
the constitution and then read court disadvantages
Surveillance CPs
• Advantage counterplans. Teams will read
counterplans to solve the advantages through
other means, such as strengthening the
economy to promote hegemony and closing
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to boost US soft
power. They will then read disadvantages that
are specific to the surveillance curtailment in
the plan as net-benefits.
Surveillance CPs
• Private Sector. The private sector is capable of
undertaking many actions that work to protect
privacy.
Surveillance CP (PCLOB CP)
• Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board
• This is basically a board which independently
ensures “that concerns with respect to privacy
and civil liberties are appropriately
considered” in making laws to fight terrorism
1NC text- PCLOB
• Text: The United States federal government
should propose <the plan> to the Privacy and
Civil Liberties Oversight Board for review. The
board should solicit input from all relevant
stakeholders. The board should recommend
that the United States federal government <do
plan>.
PCLOB CP
• The counterplan does NOT fiat that Congress
will implement the plan but rather due the
board’s recommendation will build enough
momentum in congress to create effective
institutionalized reform
PCLOB CP
• Net Benefit- doesn’t link to Politix because the
board is a third party organization and
completely independent which allows for
them to garner support and coalition for the
plan in congress and shields controversy.
DISADVANTAGES
• Argument introduced by the negative in the
1NC that identifies a new problem the
affirmative causes
DISADVANTAGES
1. Uniqueness – what is happening now
2. Link – how will the aff’s plan/policy change
that
3. Internal Link- Connects the link to the impx
3. Impact – why is that change bad
Example of a Disad
• Lauren should eat 9 apple pies every morning
• Advantage: apple pie makes Lauren happy
• Neg: Lauren does not have infinite money
Breaking Down the DA
• If Lauren eats 9 apple crisp pies every day, she
will run out of money
1. Lauren has enough money to pay for gas to get to
school
2. Bad spending habits bankrupt her
3. A bankrupt Lauren can’t pay for gas to get to
school
4. Bankrupt Lauren loses her job which leads to
nuclear war
Affirmative Answers to DAs
1. Non-unique – the DA is going to happen
inevitably, even if we don’t do the plan
– Lauren already can’t afford gas- she’s a teacher!
Link Debate
. No link – the plan doesn’t cause that change
– Pies are very cheap
3. Link turn – the opposite of the link is true
– Eating pies for breakfast means Lauren can skip
lunch which saves her money
No impact
. No impact – the impact isn’t a big deal
– Lauren doesn’t need gas money
Impx Turn
5. Impact turn – the aff does,
in fact, cause _____
but that’s a good thing
– Not being able to afford gas
means Lauren spends more
time at home with her cat
Caution
• DO NOT Link Turn and Impact Turn
• If you do this, you argue that the affirmative
prevents a good thing from happening
Questions?
• My email is Ldonnen@gmail.com if you have
questions that come up later too