Conflict Neg While it is impossible to know exactly what went on behind the closed doors of the Oval Office and other meeting points during the near-lockdown in D.C., one thing is clear: the government of the United States was engaged in dysfunctional conflict. Dysfunctional conflict "hinders group performance" because no dialogue or effective communication occurs (text p. 455). There was an insufficient amount of collaboration among the parties involved. There was also task conflict, such as disagreement over the content and the goals of the project. The one point of agreement was that neither party wanted Washington to shut down; it would have been a poor public relations move. Therefore, both parties hurried to a solution that was based much more on compromise than on collaboration. Collaboration would have first clarified what each party needed -- and what their differences were, in order to reach a win-win solution. Instead, what happened...

The President seemed bent on compromise at all costs; it might be that President Obama's conflict resolution style is resolutely compromise-oriented. His Vice President is not a compromiser but a competitor. Biden has trouble listening to the other points-of-view and comes across as being more stubborn about his own. Reid is the limp, ineffective negotiator because of his avoidance tactics and tendency to withdraw from conflict.
If I were hired to be a mediator, I would focus on how to introduce collaboration to the procedures. The first step I would take would be to shift the discourse from antagonism and dysfunctional conflict towards functional conflict. If possible, I might bring in others to aid in the process, so that multiple perspectives and points-of-view could be introduced. I would try to focus on the positives: the…