“Those who only know one country know no country. » – Seymour Martin Lipset. Scholar Guy Swanson once said, “Thinking without comparison is unthinkable. And, in the absence of comparison, the same goes for all scientific thought and research. (cited in Ragin, 1992). As such, comparison is necessary for the development of political science. The “art of comparison” can be thought of as what experimentation is for most sciences: the primary and most effective means of testing theory. (Peters, 1998) This essay seeks to describe the various aspects of the “art of comparison” and also to detail the reasons why the comparative method is a necessary tool in every political scientist's belt. Comparative politics is one of three main subfields. in political science, alongside political theory and international relations. While political theory deals with theoretical questions regarding democracy, justice, etc., comparative politics deals with more empirical questions. To take an example cited by Daniele Caramani in “Comparative Politics” (2011), comparative politics is not interested in knowing whether participation is good or not for democracy. Rather, it is about how and why people participate in certain ways. As such, comparative politics can be considered empirical and “value-free.” On the other hand, international relations – as the name suggests – is interested in interactions between political systems, while comparative politics prefers to study interactions within political systems. Still according to Caramani (2011), comparative politics does not ignore external influences on internal structures, but its ultimate concern concerns the configurations of power within sovereign systems. The “art of comparison” is a necessary tool in all politics. of paper......Caramani, 2011. Comparative politics. 2 edition. Oxford University Press, USA.3. G. Bingham Powell Jr., 1984. Contemporary democracies: participation, stability and violence (Menil Foundation). Edition. Harvard University Press.4. Guy B. Peters, 1998. Comparative Politics: Theory and Methods (Comparative Government and Politics). Edition. Palgrave Macmillan.5. Peter Hall 2004 “Beyond the comparative method” ASPA- Comparative Politics Newsletter, 15(2): 1-46. SE Finer, 1997. The History of Government from the Earliest Times: The Middle Ages v.2 (Vol 2). Edition. Oxford University Press.7. Seymour Martin Lipset, 1996. American exceptionalism: a double-edged sword (AMERICAN HISTORY, POLITICAL THEORY). Edition. WW Norton & Company, Incorporated.8. Todd Landman, 2000. Issues and methods in comparative politics: an introduction. 0 edition. Routledge.