The Program in Foreign Policy Decision Making, Texas A&M University
announces the 10th Annual Winter Institute in International Relations, to be
held at the Texas A&M campus on January 11-15, 2006. Professor Stephen G.
Walker of Arizona State University will lead this year's workshop on
Operational Code Analysis.

Admission to the 10th Annual Winter Institute is FREE of charge. To
register, pleases email Tyson Chatagnier by October 15, 2005, at:
[log in to unmask]

Course outline:

Operational Code Analysis

*       Prof. Stephen G. Walker
*       January 11-15, 2006
*       Winter Institute in International Relations
*       Program in Foreign Policy Decision Making
*       Department of Political Science
*       Texas A&M University

Overview

In this workshop we shall examine the belief systems of leaders as causal
mechanisms in world politics.  Our approach to this topic will be
operational code analysis, defined originally by Leites (1951, 1953: 15) as
a focus on the "conceptions of political 'strategy'" that inform the
decisions of elites. George (1969) later refined and expanded its
conceptualization to include belief systems identified by answers to ten
questions regarding the nature of the political universe and the most
effective means to realize fundamental political values. Contemporary
operational code analysis (Walker, Schafer and Young 2003) employs an
automated content analysis system to detect those beliefs attributed to self
and others in public statements by elites.

Readings and Workshop Sessions

The topics and readings for this workshop are listed below for each session.
The sources are cited fully in the attached set of references.  Further
information about their availability on the Texas A & M campus will be
provided at the first session of the workshop.

Session 1.  (Day 1 Morning)  Why Study Leaders as Agents in World Politics?

                The Level-of-Analysis Problem           Hagan (2001)
                The Agent-Structure Problem             Wendt (1992)
                The Level-of-Decision Problem           Walker (2002)

Session 2.  (Day 1 Afternoon)   Conceptualizing Belief Systems as Causal
Mechanisms.

                George's Ten Questions                  George (1969)
                Holsti's Typology of Belief Systems     Walker (1983)
                Expansions and Refinements              George (1979)

Session 3.  (Day 2 Morning)     Dimensions of Foreign Policy Behavior
.
                Cooperation and Conflict                Beer, et al (1992)
                Behavior and Moves                      Goldstein (1992)
                Tactics and Strategies                  Leng and Singer
(1987)

Session 4.  (Day 2 Afternoon)   Measuring Beliefs in Public Statements.

                Qualitative and Quantitative Methods    Schafer (2000)
                Sampling and Index Construction Walker, Schafer& Young
(1998)
                Automated Content Analysis              Schafer and Walker
(forthcoming)



Session 5.  (Day 3 Morning)     Modeling Relationships Between Beliefs and
Behavior.

.               Theory of Inferences about Preferences (TIP)    Malici
(2005)
                Theory of Moves (TOM)                           Brams (2002)

                Constructing and Solving Subjective Games       Marfleet &
Miller (forthcoming)



Session 6.  (Day 3 Afternoon)   Applications to Foreign Policy Theory

                Psychological Explanations              Malici and Malici
(2005)
                Cultural Explanations                   Feng (2005)
                Rational Choice Explanations            Walker and Schafer
(2004)

Session 7.  (Day 4 Morning)     Applications to International Relations
Theory
.
                Neorealist Explanations                 Malici (forthcoming)

                Liberal Explanations                    Schafer and Walker
(under review)
                Constructivist Explanations             Walker (2004)

Session 8 (Day 4 Afternoon)     Idea Development and Refinement for
Abstracts

Session 9.  (Day 5 Morning)     Discussion of Abstracts/Development of Ideas
I

Session 10. (Day 5 Afternoon)   Discussion of Abstracts/Development of Ideas
II
                                Wrap Up

Sessions 1 through 7 will have a lecture/discussion format, and participants
are expected to read at least one of the sources listed for each session.
These sources are selected as background reading for the lectures and to
illustrate the application of operational code analysis to empirical and
theoretical puzzles in world politics.  They are also intended to stimulate
you to develop ideas for applying operational code analysis to research
puzzles that interest you.  Sessions 8 through 10 are devoted to developing
an idea for applying operational code analysis in your own research and
presenting it as an abstract for circulation to the group.  Professor Walker
will be available for consultation throughout the workshop and during
Session 8 as you develop your idea into an abstract.  The remaining sessions
will be occasions for group discussions of each participant's idea.
Depending on the number of participants, the group will spend about 15
minutes on each person's abstract during Sessions 9 and 10.

2006 WI Instructor

Stephen G. Walker is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Arizona
State University.  His research in political psychology is on the beliefs of
political leaders as causal mechanisms in the strategic interactions of
leaders within and across states.  He is a past vice-president of both the
International Studies Association and the International Society of Political
Psychology. He received the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Foreign
Policy Section of the International Studies Association in 2003.

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