On Tuesday, November 14, 1995, in what has been perceived as the years
biggest non-event, the federal
government shut down all 'non-essential' services due to what was, for
all intents and purposes, a game of national
'chicken' between the House Speaker and the President. And, at an
estimated cost of 200 million dollars a day, this
dubious battle of dueling egos did not come cheap (Bradsher, 1995,
p.16). Why do politicians find it almost congenitally
impossible to cooperate? What is it about politics and power that seem
to always put them at odds with good
government? Indeed, is an ef…
