In competitive
debate, an advantage is the way that the
affirmative team refers to the positive consequences of adopting their position on the
debate resolution. It is an argument structure that seeks to convince the judge that the
affirmative plan, if adopted, would result in a net-beneficial improvement to the
status quo
is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...
.
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Structure
Some variance in the structure of an advantage exists. The following are two of the most common structures:
Method 1
*Uniqueness: An
argument
An argument is a statement or group of statements called premises intended to determine the degree of truth or acceptability of another statement called conclusion. Arguments can be studied from three main perspectives: the logical, the dialectic ...
describing something in the status quo. Falls under the stock issue of
inherency
This is a glossary of policy debate terms.
Affirmative
In policy debate (also called ''cross-examination debate'' in some circuits, namely the University Interscholastic League of Texas), the ''Affirmative'' is the team that affirms the resolu ...
.
*Impact: an argument explaining why that condition of the status quo is damaging. Falls under the stock issue of
harms.
*
Solvency
Solvency, in finance or business, is the degree to which the current assets of an individual or entity exceed the current liabilities of that individual or entity. Solvency can also be described as the ability of a corporation to meet its long-ter ...
: an argument describing how the plan can alter the status quo to avoid the impact.
Method 2
*Uniqueness: Claims about the status quo (typically undesirable or heading in a bad direction).
*Link: An argument of how/why the plan causes something in the status quo to change.
*Internal Link: How/why the link will result in a particular outcome.
*Impact: The bad things avoided by passing the plan, or the good things that come to be.
See also
*
Disadvantage
*
Policy debate
Policy debate is an American form of debate competition in which teams of two usually advocate for and against a resolution that typically calls for policy change by the United States federal government. It is also referred to as cross-examinat ...
*
Lincoln Douglas Debate
References
Debating
Public speaking
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