A growing number of public administration theorists are taking up the question of ontology—the nature of existence. This primer on the topic provides a basic explanation of ontology, describes the fundamental debates in the competing ontologies of Western philosophy, and discusses why ontology is important to social and political theory, as well as to public administration theory and practice. Using an ideal‐type approach, the author analyzes how different ontologies imply particular political forms that undergird public administration theories and practices. This ideal‐type model can be used to identify the ontological assumptions in these theories and practices. The article concludes with an invitation for personal reflection on the part of scholars and practitioners in regard to which ontology best fits their experience and beliefs and the alternatives that we might pursue for a better future.

The importance of ontology to social theory is emerging in a variety of fields associated with political theory, including public administration. This article explores the ontological underpinnings of Follett's theory of governance, including both political and administrative theory. The observation of similarities between Follett's concepts and those of Whitehead's process philosophy led to the discovery that they were indeed contemporaries who mutually influenced one another's work, with Follett focusing on the social and Whitehead focusing on the physical. This article interprets and analyzes their key principles, finding a shared ontology that understands becoming as a relational process; difference as being related, yet unique; and the purpose of becoming as harmonizing difference. Together, these concepts prefigure a political form that can be called Follettian governance-facilitation of a way of living together through a relational process of becoming unique individuals, collectively engaged in an ongoing process of harmonizing differences through interlocking networks, to progress as both individuals and a society.

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This article presents a Governance Typology comprising philosophical and practical theoretical elements which compose four ideal-types found in dominant Western political theory, what we label Institutional, Holographic, Atomistic, and Fragmented governance types. Then a fifth synthesis type is articulated, Integrative Governance, which is based on relational process ontology derived from alternative sources. The article then makes the argument that Integrative Governance is fitting in terms of the contemporary context and leading edge theory and addresses important critiques of the other governance types. In closing, the article affirms Integrative Governance and argues it is a more fruitful grounding for global governance and a more sustainable future.