Operational Code Analysis
Operational code analysis measures a political leader's belief system — their fundamental assumptions about the nature of politics and the best strategies for pursuing goals — from the leader's own words. Originating in Nathan Leites's study of the Bolshevik mindset and reformulated by Alexander George (1969) into a structured set of philosophical and instrumental questions, it later became a quantitative method through the Verbs in Context System (VICS). By coding how a leader talks about conflict, cooperation, control, and risk, analysts characterize the cognitive framework through which that leader interprets the world and chooses action.
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Sources
- George, A. L. (1969). The 'operational code': A neglected approach to the study of political leaders and decision-making. International Studies Quarterly, 13(2), 190–222. DOI: 10.2307/3013944 ↗
How to cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 22). Operational Code Analysis of Political Leaders' Belief Systems. ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/en/international-relations/operational-code-analysis
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