Chicago Debate League 2013/14 Core Files


AC Frontline: Topicality – Venezuela Democracy 438



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2AC Frontline: Topicality – Venezuela Democracy 438



4) There is no topic explosion because economic engagement can include positive conditions, but not negative ones.
MASTANDUNO, 03

[Michael, Professor of Government at Dartmouth; “The Strategy of Economic Engagement: Theory and Practice,” Economic Interdependence and International Conflict: New Perspectives on an Enduring Debate, p. 184-5]


Much of the attention in political science to the question of interdependence and conflict focuses at the systemic level, on arguments and evidence linking the expansion of economic exchange among states on the one hand to the exacerbation of international conflict or the facilitation of international cooperation on the other. The approach taken in this chapter focuses instead at the state level, on the expansion of economic interdependence as a tool of state craft. Under what circumstances does the cultivation of economic ties, that is, the fostering of economic interdependence as a conscious state strategy, lead to important and predicable changes in the foreign policy behavior of a target state? Students of economic statecraft refer to this strategy variously as economic engagement, economic inducement, economic diplomacy, positive sanctions, positive economic linkage, or the use of economic “carrots” instead of sticks. Critics of the strategy call it economic appeasement.
5) No case meets their interpretation: The Negative could always win that the other country refuses the aid or fails to implement changes, and this would make every Affirmative non-topical because no plan can guarantee the other country will cooperate.
6) Default to reasonability: it’s impossible for the Affirmative to win the round on topicality, so we should only need to provide a good interpretation rather than the best one. If both sides have ground and arguments, you should resolve the debate on substantive issues instead of topicality.

2AC Frontline: Topicality – Cuba Ethanol 439



1) We Meet: The plan enables the purchase of sugarcane ethanol from Cuba, which creates a transfer of resources and an increase in economic assistance. If this doesn’t meet, then no Cuba affirmative can be topical because the trade embargo makes every purchase illegal and the Affirmative would lose on basic solvency take-outs.
2) Counter-interpretation: “Increase” must be progressive and measured after a period of time, not immediately after the change. This is the definition that government agencies use.
US COURT OF APPEALS FOR DC, 5

[“STATE OF NEW YORK, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, RESPONDENT, NSR MANUFACTURERS ROUNDT-ABLE, ET AL., INTERVENORS,” l/n]


While the CAA defines a "modification" as any physical or operational change that "increases" emissions, it is silent on how to calculate such "increases" in emissions. 42 U.S.C. § 7411(a)(4). According to government petitioners, the lack of a statutory definition does not render the term "increases" ambiguous, but merely compels the court to give the term its "ordinary meaning." See Engine Mfrs.Ass'nv.S.Coast AirQualityMgmt.Dist., 541 U.S. 246, 124 S. Ct. 1756, 1761, 158 L. Ed. 2d 529(2004); Bluewater Network, 370 F.3d at 13; Am. Fed'n of Gov't Employees v. Glickman, 342 U.S. App. D.C. 7, 215 F.3d 7, 10 [*23] [**23] (D.C. Cir. 2000). Relying on two "real world" analogies, government petitioners contend that the ordinary meaning of "increases" requires the baseline to be calculated from a period immediately preceding the change. They maintain, for example, that in determining whether a high-pressure weather system "increases" the local temperature, the relevant baseline is the temperature immediately preceding the arrival of the weather system, not the temperature five or ten years ago. Similarly, [***49] in determining whether a new engine "increases" the value of a car, the relevant baseline is the value of the car immediately preceding the replacement of the engine, not the value of the car five or ten years ago when the engine was in perfect condition. EPA maintains that its choice of the ten-year lookback period is entitled to deference under Chevron Step 2 because it is based on a permissible construction of the ambiguous term "increases." 67 Fed. Reg. at 80,199. EPA disputes the validity of government petitioners' analogies, pointing out, for example, that if the weather system arrives in the evening, it is inappropriate to compare the nighttime temperature immediately following the arrival of the system to the daytime temperature immediately preceding the arrival of the system. The important point is that the period immediately preceding a change may not be analogous to the period following the change and thus may not yield a meaningful comparison for the purpose of determining whether the change "increases" emissions. Hence, government petitioners' reliance on the "ordinary meaning" of "increases" fails to address a practical reality. Indeed, during oral argument, [***50] counsel for government petitioners agreed that the provision in the 1980 rule for use of a "more representative" period not immediately preceding the change is consistent with the statutory language because some flexibility is needed to account for anomalous disruptions in operations. It follows that the statutory term "increases" does not plainly and unambiguously require the baseline period to immediately precede the change. Rather, the statute is silent or ambiguous on how to calculate baseline emissions, and the issue is whether the ten-year look back period is based on a permissible interpretation of the statute under Chevron Step 2. [HN17] Under Chevron Step 2, a court must defer to the agency's interpretation of the ambiguous statutory term if it "represents a reasonable accommodation of conflicting policies that were committed to the agency's care by the statute." Chevron, 467 U.S. at 845 (quoting United States v. Shimer, 367 U.S. 374, 383, 6 L. Ed. 2d 908, 81 S. Ct. 1554 (1961)). In particular, the agency's interpretation is entitled to deference when "the regulatory scheme is technical and complex, the agency considered the matter in a detailed and reasoned [***51] fashion, and the decision involves reconciling conflicting policies." Id. at 865.



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