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jpart-theory-building

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Use when building the theoretical argument of a Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (JPART) manuscript into a public-management contribution. JPART's defining demand is theory — its abstract template asks for the theoretical approach first and the implications for theory last. Structures the argument; it does not run analyses.

Journal-of-Public-Administration-Research-and-Theory-Skills/skills/jpart-theory-building/SKILL.md

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Nov 9, 2026

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Sep 27, 2026
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# Theory Building (jpart-theory-building)

At JPART a result is not a contribution until it is attached to **public-management theory the field can
use elsewhere.** The journal's own abstract template asks authors to state the **theoretical approach**
first and to end with **implications for theory** — that ordering is the whole brief. This skill turns
findings into theory: explicit constructs, mechanisms, scope conditions, and observable implications.

## When to trigger

- The empirics are strong but the "so what for theory" is thin
- A reviewer said the paper is "atheoretical," "ad hoc," or "a finding in search of a theory"
- You need to state the mechanism and scope conditions of a PA relationship explicitly
- You are deciding whether you *extend*, *test*, *bound*, or *overturn* an existing PA theory
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