Standard & Poor's rationale for the downgrade included the 'political brinksmanship of recent months' and the Republican opposition to a balanced plan that includes revenue.

When the governing coalition refused, the talks collapsed, and within three hours the political brinksmanship began with all of the Shiite ministers resigning.

The Governor's decision to sign the redistricting bill culminated a day of prolonged political brinksmanship here.

As its subtitle suggests, the book offers a close reading of the dangerous game of political brinksmanship between Stalin and Shostakovich.

That would leave the country - and the nuclear button - in the hands of an untested neophyte with no experience in the kind of political brinksmanship needed to stabilize the country.

By now Americans are certainly no strangers to political brinksmanship.

The majority and minority leaders of the Senate appeared locked in a game of political brinksmanship over the well-worn crime bill today, with the prestige of the White House at stake.

But Mr. Yeltsin demonstrated tonight that he was also ready to engage in political brinksmanship, as he has so many times in the past.

The abortion battle, too, appeared to be moving the Republicans and the President toward a high-stakes game of political brinksmanship.

The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America's governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed.