Three Levels in the Theory and Practice of Public Administration

Abstract

I am certainly happy to be back in Korea again. I am very grateful for the kind invitation and introduction that Dean Lee has given me. The topic was suggested by some comments that I heard during the recent EROPA conference in Kuala Lumpur so it is some recent thinking that is reflected in this talk that I am going to give you. I would like to start out by discussing the question: what is the relation between theory and practice in public administration? Of course this is a special case of the relation between theory and practice in many fields. I think there is a very great deal of misunderstanding, although this is certainly a very familiar topic which has been discussed, I am sure, by many people in lectures and essays. People often say that something is good in theory but not good in practice. What exactly is meant by such a saying? You often hear it said that university scholars are living in anivery tower far away from the real world of practical reality.