The article concerns the role of explanatory procedures in scientific research of a political scientist. Basic varieties of these procedures have been presented: causal (structural, functional), intentional (rational), model and integral. Their role in basic practical research was presented based on the answer to the following questions: why was there a famine disaster in Russia in 1891 and why did real socialism collapse in Poland in 1989. The knowledge-formation role of the explanatory procedure is the key point of focus. This role is vast when it refers to answering questions, why qualitative transformation takes place.