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Conclusion: A Bright Future for Th eory?

Does theory have a useful role in a fi eld as fragmented and applied as public ad-
ministration? Th e primary purpose of this book was to answer this question with
a defi nitive yes. Th e broad and multidimensional nature of public administration
increases rather than decreases the need for reliable theoretical frameworks. In
such a fi eld, the primary purpose of theory is to assemble facts into a comprehen-
sive explanatory picture and to use this comprehension to inform policymaking
and guide public policy implementation. If the complex undertaking of public
service provision is to evolve more eff ective forms of public administration that
remain accountable to fundamental democratic values, then there is a consider-
able need for intellectual tools designed with these purposes in mind.
Th e underlying utility of any theory is its capacity to describe, explain,
and predict. A theory should parsimoniously and systematically describe the
phenomenon under study and logically connect its elements into a clear un-
derstanding of the actors, institutions, and processes involved. By doing so, it
should provide a platform to make probabilistic assessments about the likely
consequences or outcomes of specifi c actions (or nonactions) that refl ect a
more accurate understanding and a greater predictive power than arguments
reliant upon intuition, common sense, political expediency, ideological prefer-
ence, or individual experience.
Public administration theory takes various distinct forms refl ecting these
objectives. (1) Th eory in the positivist, scientifi c sense: Th is is theory that is
premised upon generating universal axioms that can be empirically confi rmed.
(2) Th eory that orders factual material to convey a systematic understanding of
the complex and various dimensions of public administration. (3) Th eory as a
normative argument, a philosophical case for what constitutes “good” or “best”
or “just” in administrative practice.
Regardless of an intellectual framework’s particular theoretical purpose, in
public administration the ultimate test of any theory is how useful it is—does
it increase our general understanding of public administration, and/or can it