The mathematical exercise of the the Prisoner's Dilemma is used to explore the issue of whether present models or paradigms of policy analysis cover the complete range of rational decision making. A review of the competing paradigms of the cybernetic concept, the analytic probability concept, and the cognitive categorization concept reveals additional, but unaccounted-for, policy-making behavior. It is this residual which is affecting educational governance systems, and it is referred to as extrarational phenomena. A conceptual and methodological exploration of the residual, extrarational phenomena is called for, and some suggestions for further efforts at analysis are provided. (CH)