We introduce a Morse theory for posets of Bestvina–Brady type combining matchings and height functions. This theory generalizes Forman's discrete Morse theory for regular CW-complexes and extends previous results on Morse theory for $h$-regular posets to all finite posets. We also develop a relative version of Morse theory which allows us to compare the topology of a poset with that of a given subposet.

Finitary monads on Pos are characterized as precisely the free-algebra monads of varieties of algebras. These are classes of ordered algebras specified by inequations in context. Analogously, finitary enriched monads on Pos are characterized: here we work with varieties of coherent algebras which means that their operations are monotone.

Given a poset $P$ and a standard closure operator $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}:{\wp}(P)\rightarrow {\wp}(P)$, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for the lattice of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$-closed sets of ${\wp}(P)$ to be a frame in terms of the recursive construction of the $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$-closure of sets. We use this condition to show that, given a set ${\mathcal{U}}$ of distinguished joins from $P$, the lattice of ${\mathcal{U}}$-ideals of $P$ fails to be a frame if and only if it fails to be $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70E}$-distributive, with $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70E}$ depending on the cardinalities of sets in ${\mathcal{U}}$. From this we deduce that if a poset has the property that whenever $a\wedge (b\vee c)$ is defined for $a,b,c\in P$ it is necessarily equal to $(a\wedge b)\vee (a\wedge c)$, then it has an $(\unicode[STIX]{x1D714},3)$-representation.