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pubar-theory-building

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Use when building the theoretical argument of a Public Administration Review (PAR) manuscript into a contribution that advances public-management theory and informs practice. PAR rewards a clear, portable mechanism with explicit scope conditions plus a defensible practitioner "so-what." Structures the argument; it does not run analyses.

Public-Administration-Review-Skills/skills/pubar-theory-building/SKILL.md

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# Theory & Argument Building (pubar-theory-building)

At PAR a result is not a contribution until it is attached to an **argument public-management scholars
can use elsewhere** *and* a **practical implication a manager can act on.** This skill turns findings
into theory: explicit mechanisms, scope conditions, and observable implications — in the idiom of
public administration, where context (institutions, law, political control, public values) is central.

## When to trigger

- The empirics are strong but the "so what / why" is thin
- A reviewer said the paper is "atheoretical," "ad hoc," or "just a program description"
- You need to state mechanisms, assumptions, and scope conditions explicitly
- A **Conceptualizing Public Administration** thought piece (theory is the whole contribution)
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