Chicago Debate League 2013/14 Core Files


NC Frontline: Harms – Democracy 95



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1NC Frontline: Harms – Democracy 95



3) Empirically denied: The Cold War proves democracy promotion does not help U.S. image and isn’t the normal mode of U.S. foreign policy.
LARISON, 13

[Daniel, PhD., contributing editor at The American Conservative; “On Democracy Promotion and the Failure of the “Freedom Agenda”,” 01/22, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/on-democracy-promotion-and-the-failure-of-the-freedom-agenda/]


This is the sort of argument for democracy promotion that makes me so opposed to the idea. Democracy promotion isn’t a necessary or intrinsic part of being American, and it certainly isn’t the “only way” our foreign policy can make sense. The U.S. hasn’t failed to support democrats “from time to time.” For most of U.S. history, the U.S. government didn’t promote democracy, and during the Cold War in particular the government sometimes opposed and occasionally even worked to depose popular and elected governments. Those weren’t occasional exceptions to a general rule of promoting democracy. Democracy promotion became a priority for the U.S. government only in the last few decades, and even then it has been very selective and uneven in its implementation. There is nothing natural or innate about it. Maybe that doesn’t matter, but one of the reasons that skeptics of democracy promotion are so resistant to the idea is that its advocates present it as if it were the normal default of U.S. foreign policy when it has been anything but that. Democratists present their agenda as if it were integral to our identity as a people, but it isn’t and has never been that.

2NC Extension Harms - #1 “Elections are Fair” 96



1) Venezuelan elections have already been certified as transparent and open, and the process assures a fair outcome. There is no risk now of democracy collapsing, checks are in place Extend our 1NC CARLSEN evidence.
2) Venezuelan elections are already well monitored and fair.
KOVALIK, 13

[Dan, Human and labor rights lawyer; “U.S. Must Recognize Venezuela's Elections,” 04/18, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-kovalik/us-must-recognize-venezuela_b_3103540.html]


I just returned from Venezuela where I was one of over 170 international election observers from around the world, including India, Guyana, Suriname, Colombia, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Scotland, England, the United States, Guatemala, Argentina, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Brazil, Chile, Greece, France, Panama and Mexico. These observers included two former presidents (of Guatemala and the Dominican Republic), judges, lawyers and numerous high ranking officials of national electoral councils. What we found was an election system which was transparent, inherently reliable, well-run and thoroughly audited.


2NC Extension Harms - #2 “Democracy turn” [1/2] 97



1) By attempting to force democracy on another country, the plan will anger allies and make the U.S. look hypocritical to the rest of the world. This makes our model look weak, and decreases democratic credibility everywhere. Apply the 1NC CARLSEN evidence.
2) Further questioning of Venezuelan democracy will embolden revolutionaries and lead to more instability and the collapse of government.
KOVALIK, 13

[Dan, Human and labor rights lawyer; “U.S. Must Recognize Venezuela's Elections,” 04/18, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-kovalik/us-must-recognize-venezuela_b_3103540.html]


And, the U.S.'s failure to recognize the Venezuelan elections is having devastating consequences in Venezuela, for it is emboldening the Venezuelan opposition to carry out violence in order to destabilize that country. Unlike Al Gore in 2000 who stepped aside for George W. Bush in the interest of his country and the U.S. Constitution, the Venezuelan opposition, being led by Henrique Capriles, clearly wants to foster chaos and crisis in Venezuela in order to topple the Maduro government by force (just as the same forces represented by Capriles forcibly kidnapped and briefly overthrew President Chavez, with U.S. support, in 2002). Thus, reasonably believing itself to have the backing of the U.S. and its military, the opposition is causing mayhem in Venezuela, including burning down clinics, destroying property, attacking Cuban doctors and destroying ruling party buildings. In all, seven Venezuelans are dead and dozens injured in this opposition-led violence. There is no doubt that the U.S. could halt this violence right now by recognizing the results of the Venezuelan elections, just as the nations of the world recognized, without question, the results of the elections which put John F. Kennedy in power in 1960 and George W. Bush in power in 2000. The reason the U.S. is not doing so is obvious: It does not like the Venezuelans' chosen form of government, and welcomes that government's demise, even through violence. The U.S., therefore, is not supporting democracy and stability in Venezuela; it is intentionally undermining it.

2NC Extension Harms - #2 “Democracy turn” [2/2] 98



3) The impact is loss of U.S. credibility in democracy promotion globally.
CARLSEN, 13

[Laura, director of the Americas Program for the Center for International Policy in Mexico City.; “U.S. Efforts to Block Democracy in Venezuela Harm Hemispheric Relations,” 5/02, http://www.fpif.org/articles/us_efforts_to_block_democracy_in_venezuela_harm_relations_in_the_hemisphere]


The Obama administration should consider that its stubbornness about what it considers an adverse election result in a foreign country is a direct cause of bloodshed. It harms relations with our hemispheric neighbors and partners and sows the seeds of distrust and enmity in a region where we have a good chance at building cooperation on issues of vital importance to all of our countries. Venezuela’s elections must be accepted at once to show that the United States will uphold democratic processes and the rule of law, even when its government is not particularly pleased with the results.




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