Public Administration Review's Theory to Practice

Advancing the "science, processes, and art of public administration" has long been a central animating purpose of ASPA. Such a mission today involves practitioners and scholars providing answers to what is arguably the central animating question facing societies worldwide: how, when, and with what implications for the values treasured in a democracy can we best harness for public purposes the dynamism of markets, the passion and commitment of nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations, and the public interest-oriented expertise of the career public service at all levels of government. As such, our interrelated aims in Theory to Practice are:

Afford opportunities for academics, practitioners, and pracademics to inform each others' work in the hope of advancing both practice and theory building in public administration
Facilitate cross-disciplinary, cross-sectoral (public, private, and nonprofit), and cross-professional exchanges that break down contemporary tendencies toward fragmentation and "stovepiping" of knowledge applicable to both practice and theory
Provide for busy practitioners, scholars, and students a one-stop location for locating classics, near-classics, and future classics on topics of interest to academics and practitioners
Advance what former PAR editor Chet Newland referred to as a "floating seminar" by taking advantage of existing and future advances and developments in information-sharing technology

In pursuing its aims, Theory to Practice features exchanges among scholars and practitioners assessing what prominent theories and research in their areas of expertise have to say about the challenges, choices, and opportunities facing public administration today. Critical among these are calls to:

reconceptualize purpose
reconnect with stakeholders
redefine administrative rationality
recapitalize assets
reengage resources
revitalize constitutional values

These will serve as the overarching thematic framework for articles appearing in Theory to Practice. We will offer a series of blind peer-reviewed articles appearing in the hardcopy of PAR that are written in language accessible to all PAR readers, but especially for busy practitioners. These will discuss what the best in scholarship has to say about various topics covered in the series. Each article will take stock of and ponder the future of selected topics by exploring the answer to three primary questions:

What do we know from theory and the research literature that can help inform practice in a given topical area?
What don't we know and why?
Where do we go from here, and how, in terms of research and practice?

Accepted articles will appear in two formats: a concise version (approximately 6,000 words, including references) in PAR summarizing in readily accessible language the key points of a longer, more comprehensive, and in-depth manuscript (approximately 10,000-11,000 words, including references) that will appear here, within ASPA’s PAR website. Also appearing on the website with the more comprehensive version of the article will be invited commentary from practitioners and academics with expertise on the topic. These commentators will not be the persons who do the blind peer review of the article published. Commentators, however, also will not know the identity of the authors, and will react to each article in terms of:

their perception of the contents, argument, and evidence presented
any additional insights they have that might be useful for practitioners and researchers
alternatively, their own perceptions regarding future research and practice on this or related topics

Authors will also have an opportunity to respond to the commentaries on the website if they wish. PAR readers wishing to add their views to the discussion may submit them to the editor, Robert F. Durant, and edited versions will be placed on the website.