Main Page | Recent changes | View source | Page history

Printable version | Disclaimers | Privacy policy

Not logged in
Log in | Help
 

Position:is

From dKosopedia

A position is a statement about what should be done, or how past events should be interpreted. It is almost always a value judgement, not a fact. Separating out the position from the neutrally-stated issue that it addresses, e.g. separating the position:Bush failed on terrorism from the issue of terrorism or the rhetorical term:War on Terrorism, helps to keep people whose positions vary strongly from yours involved and willing to state their own counter-positions.

The colon can be interpreted as "that", as in, "the position that Bush failed on terrorism". When stating there should be or is a position that something has or hasn't happened, or should or shouldn't happen, say so with a link to "position that". When it becomes a real position, make a full page:

Very closely related positions should be redirects to the same page, but must be linked as the more specific name, so that a page that is only about the case to be made, say, that Katrina was deliberately ignored, links only via that position.

Usually any position will begin its life on an issue page, such as Hurricane Katrina issue. When it becomes large enough to warrant its own, chop it out.

See issue/position/argument for a description of the general structure. The following is a subset of that structure relevant only to position pages:

Any argument that backs a position, especially with evidence which can then be refuted, cited by others, or simply used to refer to more sources) should be included on the position page, ideally marked out as its own separate section of "arguments for." An argument or evidence that seems to back more than one position will almost always need to be at least slightly rewritten or restated. Accordingly, an argument should be a subsection within a position, not a page of its own. List arguments against also. If there are none, then, find someone with a very different view to try to find some, or quote some from news sources. If necessary, ask hard questions by way of forming an argument against, like a lawyer would: the lack of answers implies an implicit argument against the position.

Actual evidence:is much more objective and should often be in its own page.

For example the original materials regarding Guantanamo Bay are evidence, and when they are used in a legal case or political argument they should have parallel evidence pages to examine the validity of the source.

The IPA structure and associated standards are maintained by the Efficient Civics Guild for purposes of spreading open politics. Most defining documents are under CC-by-nc-sa but some excerpts are releasable under GFDL, including this one above. Feel free to improve it as you see fit.

Retrieved from "http://localhost../../../i/s/_/Position%7Eis.html"

This page was last modified 18:11, 7 September 2005 by dKosopedia user Anonymous troll. Content is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.


[Main Page]
Daily Kos
DailyKos FAQ

View source
Discuss this page
Page history
What links here
Related changes

Special pages
Bug reports