Three fundamental premises are the basis for any inquiry into methodology. First, to anticipate events that occur in the environment; then, to control events in the environment; and finally, to choose among the alternative outcomes available in the environment. That is why we study politics, whether municipal, national or international; so that we may be able to understand, to explain, to make judgments, to make recommendations, and, hopefully thereby, to make predictions about the nature and occurrence of political phenomena. It is the job of the inquirer to create and provide the tools and instruments suitable for this task.
Conventional wisdom asserts that there are two branches of political theory, the "way it is" the empirical and the "way it ought to be" the normative. Empiricism essentially concerns itself with descriptions and explanations.