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Stoa Lincoln-Douglas Release #07: “Social Contract” (AFF)

NOTE: This download expired May 31, 2019. See message below.

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Released: Filed Under: Stoa Lincoln-Douglas

 

About "Social Contract"

This download is one of a previous season than the current one. Only those with Library Access subscriptions are allowed to download this archived material. In order to access it, you must purchase Library Access.

Social contract theory is to Lincoln-Douglas debaters what the Jones Act is to team-policy debaters: There always seems to be some way to incorporate it into any resolution. Although many debaters are tired of the social contract, it is an extremely useful and, if run correctly, simple idea that effectively communicates the relationship between the government and its constituents.

The idea of the social contract is quite simple. It’s an agreement between the people and their government that consists of a trade. This trade means that the people of the country give up some portion of their natural rights, and in return the government protects them by putting laws into place.

The main tip to running this case is a rhetorical shift. Make sure that you make the affirmative side sound more like the side of justice, security, and human life, because “truth seeking” can seem weak without a link to innocent human lives. The key to persuasion (and this is true in any Lincoln-Douglas debate resolution) is to make your side seem like the emotional—yet reasonable—choice, and to shift the rhetorical debate to make your opponent’s side seem unimportant.

Have fun.

Directions

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