Significance (policy debate)

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Part of the series
Policy Debate
Organization
Policy debate competitions

Inter-Collegiate policy debate

Format
Structure of policy debate · Resolution

Constructive · Rebuttal · Prep Time
Evidence · Flow

Participants

Affirmative · Negative · Judge

Types of Arguments

Stock Issues · Case· Disadvantage
Counterplan · Kritik
Impact calculus · Topicality

Argumentative Concepts

Offense · Defense · Turn · Drop

Significance is a stock issue in policy debate which establishes the importance of the harms in the status quo. As a stock issue has fallen out of favor with the debate community almost all debaters and judges now believe that any plan which is preferable to the status quo is significant.

Signficance derives from the word "substantially" which appears in most resolutions, and one can argue that Significance has been subsumed by the option for the negative to use a Topicality violation on that word.


Stock Issues

Topicality| Solvency| Harms| Inherency| Significance
See also: Policy debate