THE ROLE OF BELIEF SYSTEMS AND SCHEMAS IN FOREIGN-POLICY DECISION-MAKING

Whereas the study of elite-political belief systems such as the operat ional code continues to be popular in political science, social psycho logists have neglected belief systems in favor of schemas. This articl e compares and contrasts belief systems and schemas. Whereas both cons tructs are cognitive, structured, and vary with expertise, schemas are at a higher level of generality and are more closely related to compl ex cognitive processes. The article discusses the potential advantages of using schemas to analyze various topics in foreign policymaking, s uch as information processing, memory biases, and the effects of exper tise.