After Wisconsin

If Bernie Sanders 
Is doing so great,
Why is he so red -
Faced, in Wyoming?

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The Theoretical and the Empirical: Two Salient Dimensions of the Comparative Argument

The comparative argument cannot be fully closed with empirical evidence alone, but with implicit or explicit reference to theory as well. This is the only way to make sense of whatever it is that the comparative eye draws attention to. It is theory which in one way or another affirms and settles the basis for comparison, in the first place. 

Certainly, the empirical dimension provides the evidence that one can observe, as one must. However, the data it generates cannot have shape or form without help from the explanatory and agenda-setting power of theory. 

Thus, the theoretical dimension contextualizes the process by which the verdict is delivered, as well as the verdict itself. It follows from all this that the two -- the theoretical and the empirical -- are inseparable sides of the same comparative coin.