PRACTICAL THEORY

The supposed dichotomy between theory and practice is, like other dich otomies we have known, a false one. It is rooted in a paradigm in whic h theory is conceptualized as lawlike generalizations that cumulativel y constitute an ever-growing body of knowledge. Practitioners/experts are supposedly then able to improve managerial effectiveness by applyi ng such knowledge to practice. When public administration theory fails to produce relevant lawlike generalizations and instead produces abst ract conjecture, a gap between theory and practice is perceived to exi st. The authors propose practical theory wherein practice and theory a re mutually constitutive. Although not the first to urge that public a dministration theory be grounded in experience, this article argues th at the structuration theory of sociologist Anthony Giddens surpasses p revious frameworks in addressing the theory/practice problem in public administration.