"To function as a demonstration, the author would need to show..."

Suppose someone argues:

Present stewardship should outweigh ancient occupancy.

That is a conclusion.

To demonstrate it, the author cannot merely state it. The author must justify each step.

Step 1. Why should present stewardship outweigh ancient occupancy?

The author must explain why this principle is better than the opposite.

For example:

Governments that currently govern responsibly protect the lives, rights, and welfare of millions of people.

Therefore,

present governance deserves greater legal weight than events occurring thousands of years ago.

Notice that this is now an argument, not merely a slogan.

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Step 2. Why is this principle preferable to alternatives?

There are competing principles.

For example:

Alternative A

Earliest inhabitants always have the strongest claim.

Alternative B

Continuous occupation creates the strongest claim.

Alternative C

Present effective governance creates the strongest claim.

If the author prefers C,

he must explain

why A and B are less convincing.

Otherwise he has merely chosen one principle without defending it.

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Step 3. How does it apply consistently across cases?

Suppose the author says:

Present stewardship should determine ownership.

Readers will ask:

Does that apply equally to

• Kashmir?
• Gaza?
• Northern Cyprus?
• Western Sahara?
• Indigenous land claims?

If the author applies the principle only where it supports one preferred outcome,

reviewers may accuse him of inconsistency.

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Step 4. Why should exceptions exist?

Suppose the principle is

Present stewardship normally prevails.

Readers immediately ask:

What if

• the present government committed genocide?
• the territory was acquired yesterday by unlawful invasion?
• the current rulers expelled the previous population?

Should the principle still apply?

If not,

the author must explain

which exceptions exist and why.

That completes the demonstration.