Difference between revisions of "Introduction to Circuit Debate"

This illustrates the important point that all layers are not created equal. Suppose that the affirmative debater is winning their case that "States ought to ban lethal autonomous weapons." But further suppose that the negative is winning that the affirmative was unfair in the round because they violated prep time by taking 6 minutes of prep (a silly example). Since theory is considered to be a "higher layer" than substance, the negative debater would win the round, even though they are losing on the substance level. A large component about progressive debate is arguing about which layers in the round should be evaluated first. See below for a table of common layers in debate.  

{| class="wikitable"

!Layer

!Description

Also, debate "offs" are typically used to refer to the negative's positions, since the affirmative typically only reads one "off", the AC itself.  

{| class="wikitable"

!Off

!Corresponding Layer