Bethany's Affirmative Case

In one of Aesop’s famous fables, The Lion and the Three Bulls, the moral of the story is: United we stand, divided we fall. We as a nation have to be united as one so we can make better decisions that will be the best for the majority of the nation. Because of this I strongly uphold this year’s resolution. Resolved: A government’s legitimacy is determined more by its respect for popular sovereignty than individual rights.

Before I go on I shall define some terms that will be used throughout the debate round.

Definitions:

Government: The act or process of governing, especially the control and administration of public policy in a political unit. – American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.

Legitimate: Based on logical reasoning; reasonable – American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.

Respect: The state of being regarded or esteem – American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.

Popular Sovereignty: A doctrine in political theory that government is created by and subject to the will of the people. – Merriam Webster’s Online Dictionary

Individual: A single human being, as distinguished from a group. - Dictionary.com

Rights: In accordance with what is good, proper, or just. - Dictionary.com

The value that I will be upholding throughout the round is unity because unity is the form of working together and that is what I am going to explain further on. Unity is defined clearly by Merriam Webster as: “The state of being one” Today I will have popular sovereignty as my criterion because without the people we can not have unity.

Contention 1: Unity is the key.
Let’s look back to World War II. Not every country was alone. We [America] joined with Britain, France, Belgium (the allies) and many more countries to fight the axis who were Germany, Italy, and Japan. We united together to help fight the axis and protect our citizens while the axis were mainly split apart fighting off our united army. Being united we can get so much more done instead of everyone going their own way. We cannot have a well run country when everyone is doing their own thing.

Contention 2: A legitimate government brings the right kind of freedom.
Earlier I defined popular sovereignty as ‘A doctrine in political theory that government is created by and subject to the will of the people.’ We know government makes laws to protect us. If we didn’t have laws, imagine where our nation would be … Absolute chaos! We can still maintain our individual rights with these laws. We can still worship freely, we can talk freely, and we can do so much more freely. These laws put boundaries on our freedom so we will not end up with a chaotic nation with no speed limits and no drinking rules.

Contention 3: Unity makes us strong.
“The moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.” – James Baldwin. We must rely on each other for strength to make this nation strong and well run. Take for example the construction of a bridge. All bridges require planning and measurements. If there was no planning and no measurements and everyone wanted to do their own design, the bridge would probably end up in a complete mess. It doesn’t fit well, it’s weak, and everyone was all divided up doing their own thing. If our country was like that, divided up doing their own thing, it makes our country not run well and it would be weak. When we have unity we are strong. When we are strong we endure.

[Conclusion]
We see that a government’s legitimacy’s respect for popular sovereignty is important in order to have a strong nation and the right kind of freedom. Because of this I hope you see why laws are important and that they aren’t taking away all individual rights. Popular sovereignty keeps individual rights, but with limits.

Thank you. I now stand ready for cross examination.

Here are some sample cross-x questions I would ask you.

1. Does popular sovereignty always uphold even basic individual rights, such as the right to property without anybody stealing it?
   
2. Do people have different values on morality?
   
3. Are popular views always moral?
   
4. Is it possible for people to disagree with the government and for it still to be legitiment?
   
5. Who determines right and wrong in this society?
   

1. (The way I'm thinking you are saying...)[I guess].....yes
2. yes
3. I don't think always (grr...so confused! )
4. Yes, I believe so
5. The majority


(Yikes! I think my answers totally shot my case down!) Anyway, good questions Christian! Oh and you are my second feared debater to debate!!

Who is your first feared debator?

Sam Chase..I hate the cross-x questions....make me nervous

Can the will of the people be illogical?

Yes, they can.

BTW I am not trying to be mean in any way be asking these questions. I just think that debate is so much fun!!!

yeah that's fine

Should you murder me because then there would be more unity?

You are saying that in order for a government to be legitimate it must be united, correct? If a government is illegitimate, is it necessary for that government to remove the cause?

To answer Christian: OF COURSE!!!! Just kidding! No I shouldn't!

To answer Alex: (part 1) - yes (part 2) - no

No? Well there will never be complete unity, so a government can never be fully legitimate, right?

I'm confused with the first question...

Quote :

If a government is illegitimate, is it necessary for that government to remove the cause?

Can you explain that? remove what cause ...unity?

Let's say that there was a leader in the government who was totally against what the government was doing. This leader is such a powerful one, that he has influenced many people to his side. Basically, this one man has made the government illegitimate. Must the government remove this person in order to be legitimate?

I don't know....maybe....yes

Mrs. Gray, what did you suggest I put in my contentions to use more time?

Thanks