ABSTRACT
On July 1, 2011, state government in Minnesota came to a screeching halt. In a state where residents joke there are two seasons—winter and road construction—state highways were eerily devoid of construction work. State park rangers herded thousands of visitors from their campsites and picnic tables the afternoon of June 30 in anticipation of the shutdown. Visitors to the Minnesota Capitol were greeted with locked doors and a sign announcing, “This building is closed until future notice due to the current state government service interruption.”
