A review of the literature on the Chief Information Officer (CIO) emphasizes the importance of the role of politics in the activities of the CIO). Building on the approach established in Political Strategies Framework (Romm and Rippa, 2010) an empirical research program is described that will validate assumptions about this political role. The research will validate specific actions or attitudes which constitute political activity and relate these activities to stages in the systems development lifecycle. How this Political Strategies Framework can be the basis for further research on the political dimensions of the CIO role is explained in the final section