Contemporary states worldwide face a structural puzzle: rising public expectations versus dwindling administrative capacity. This paper argues that the gap is rooted in a persistent institutional disconnect among the three layers of governing—governance, public management, and street-level operations. Drawing on an analytical-conceptual approach, it develops an integrative framework that treats statecraft as a cyclical, learning system whose effectiveness depends on cognitive, temporal and institutional alignment across levels. The core notion of “institutional disconnect” is operationalized to show how goal inflation at the strategic tier, translation paralysis inside bureaucracies, and operational drift in the field reinforce one another, locking states into self-defeating loops. Evidence from Iran—chronic policy overload, frequent restructuring, and blocked feedback channels—illustrates how disconnect becomes normalized. Realignment therefore requires moving from piece-meal fixes to systemic reforms: realistic priority-setting, strengthening the mediating capacity of public management, empowering front-line operators, and institutionalizing two-way feedback. Statecraft is an unfinished, inter-generational project; each cohort must continuously reconstruct the links among “direction,” “organization,” and “delivery” to keep government responsive, accountable and adaptive.