Abstract   This paper addresses Vincent Ostrom's treatment of self-governance, polycentrism, and federalism through which he has generated a coherent vision of political economy. After examining some ontological and epistemological presuppositions that are central to his work, the rest of the paper explores four topical areas: (1) his examination of knowledge, belief, and the requisites for good civic practice, (2) his conceptualization of a polycentric public economy, (3) his articulation of the problem of public administration through his conceptualization of a municipal services industry, (4) his treatment of federalism as a compound republic rather than simply a form of administrative decentralization.