Counterplans

Counterplans are probably one of the coolest parts of debate. A "CP" does not just work as a fancy neg trick, but it serves as a real tool to win the round by providing an alternative solution to solve the aff while avoiding any problems. The interesting thing is that all CPs are not created equal. This post is here to help everyone actually understand what a counterplan is, the common types to run, and how to create and write one that is ready to win.

What Is a Counterplan?

In a really simple way, a counterplan is the negative team saying that they agree with the problem given by the affirmative, but they want to solve it differently and in a (hopefully) better way. It is basically like the negative team switched to the aff and proposed their own plan. A counterplan must have two important key features:

1) It must solve the affirmative harms

2) The counterplan must be competitive with the affirmative plan. This means that you need to have a reason that you cannot or should not do both the aff and neg plan

A judge will only vote for your CP if you prove it works and that there is a reason that the aff cannot perform both ideas.

The Types of Counterplans

Technically speaking, there are many types of CPs that you could run. However, since we do not have that much time or room on the page, we can go over a few that are very very common.

Agent CPs --

This is a counterplan that just changes who implements/enforces the plan. For example, if the original aff plan was to work through the United States Federal Government, the CP could be that the states would be better.

The reason that Agent CPs can be strong is because the agent is matters. Federal overreach could be a key disadvantage to the aff plan in the example before. Changing up the actor, you would argue, would have key benefits that the affirmative plan does not provide.

Advantage CPs --

An advantage CP is there to take a different path on how to solve the affirmative. Let’s work through an example first. So the aff wants to solve climate change by implementing a carbon tax. The CP could propose that banning fossil fuels would work better as it may avoid some impacts that a carbon tax would not.

Later in your files, you would explain how implementing a plan to ban fossil fuels might avoid economic collapse or backlash from political parties.

PICs (Plan - Inclusive Counterplans) --

This CP is screaming "I LOVE THE PLAN, but not all of it." This counterplan attempts to solve the affirmative by including most of what the plan does, but then it excludes a portion of it. The CP usually takes out the part that they argue is actually harmful to solve. Lets use our previous example on climate change:

1) AFF Plan -- Implement a carbon tax

2) PIC -- Implement a carbon tax everywhere in the United States except for in Texas

The counterplan utilizes most of the plan, but it switches a little of it up. In this scenario, the negative would argue that a carbon tax should not be in Texas because it would uniquely destroy its economy. The CP brings in the benefit of saving Texas while accessing the advantage of the aff plan.

How To Make Your Counterplan Good

Bad CPs happen a lot. It's true. You may have experience hearing counterplans that do not compete or do not even solve the aff -- this is a big no no. We need to understand what separates a weak CP from a very strong CP.

It NEEDS to compete --

This is a non-negotiable part of creating and running a good CP. If there is no competition, the judge will just vote for the aff because they see no reason why you could not do both. There are two main ways that a CP can be competitive:

1) Mutual Exclusivity: This proves that the aff plan and the counterplan cannot both happen at the same time. Proving mutual exclusivity means you prove that the CP can only be done alone

2) Net Benefit: You are able to prove that doing both the aff and the counterplan would cause a disadvantage/impact. You need to hammer home that doing the CP alone would not access the disad. A NET BENEFIT IS NEEDED!!

It NEEDS to solve the aff --

If the CP does not actually do anything, then why would the judge vote for it? It makes no sense to bring up something that does not help you in the round. This is why you need to prove that your CP goes through the affs advantages and solves them. Having evidence showing that the CP will work is a great thing. Most importantly, however, you should have a clear explanation to the judge on how the CP works. Reading an overview (O/V) is always nice at the start of the 2NC to further explain and clarify to everyone what the counterplan does and how it works.

Final Thoughts

Counterplans are a very useful tool in the negs toolbox. If done correctly, they can really give you ballots in a lot of rounds. Simply, counterplans not only force the aff to defend whether something should be done, but also if the way they do it is the best way.

Next time you are prepping a CP, think about a few things:

1) Does it solve the aff?

2) Is it competitive with the aff?

3) Am I able to explain it clearly to the judge?

If you are able to answer yes to all of these questions, then you are ready to go! Have fun prepping your CPs!