People decry the Legislature's inability to get its work done on time. They bemoan the seemingly ego-driven negotiations that saw the Senate majority leader, the House speaker and the governor fighting to save face, as well as their own pet policy initiatives. And they scoff at the expense of the special session, and all of the preparations for a government shut down.

But you know what else it did?

It caused people to talk.

Sure, train wrecks also cause discussions at the corner coffee shop, and I wouldn't go so far as to advocate an immediate increase in the frequency of rail accidents, but in this case, people I know who had joined the ranks of the politically disillusioned and apathetic suddenly found themselves drawn back into the political process as interested observers.

I realize this does not bode well for the future of politics when it takes a threatened shutdown of the state government to shake the deepening sense of political apathy from the minds of the people. But I do think the special session did open the door to the political process for a lot of people, and is providing a golden opportunity for the process to find ways to re-engage the electorate in a system of government they are rejecting in increasing numbers.

A survey released by Zogby International in June found that a full 38 percent of Americans polled believe the United States is currently headed in the wrong direction. Add to that the fact that only a shade over 51 percent of all voting-age people voted in the past presidential election, and it should become abundantly clear that there is a major disconnect between the people and the process.

One person who deserves credit for identifying this is Gov. Jesse Ventura, who himself was elected due in large part to his ability to bring in the disenfranchised voter with a tightly grouped set of brash, idealistic campaign promises. While 2 1/2 years in office have forced him to all but abandon many of the ideals he clung to during the election, Ventura remains determined to create a personal legacy as a political reformer. With the race for a second term still in question, he no doubt recognizes there may be just 18 months left to make sure his place in history is further cemented.

Even before the special session was called, he began to ratchet up the rhetoric on the movement to make Minnesota the second state in the nation with a unicameral legislature. While there seem to be many arguments for and against the idea, I believe it is one that needs to be given serious attention. If -- after reviewing the one working model of the process in Nebraska, and examining the ramifications such a move could have on Minnesota -- it is decided that it is not right for us, then so be it. But so far, a fully spirited debate on the issue has yet to occur.

The Independence and Green parties have to be licking their chops after watching the partisan battles grind progress to a halt in the Legislature. Get a couple of third party candidates in the right places, and the movement away from the traditional two-party stranglehold could gain serious momentum. But for this to occur, all of the so-called "fringe" parties have to be doing the tough work now. Volunteers and financial support are a lot easier to come by in the months directly preceding an election. If the third party movement is to take off, party leaders and activists will need to build on the current quagmire and treat politics the way the major parties do, as a full-time pursuit, rather than a trendy cause that can be picked up and just as quickly abandoned each election cycle.

This state has lost its sense of manifest destiny, its guiding principle that government only truly works for the people if the people create it. We are at an exciting crossroads in state political history. Now is the time, with the rapt attention of the people still focused on the political process, where the mettle of true leaders is forged.

Dybvig (e-mail: nate@spinfirm.com), 27, St. Paul, is one of nine Pioneer Press community columnists in 2001. He is a writer, public affairs consultant and former journalist.