Central agencies occupy a higher hierarchical position than line departments in the organizational chart of government. They stand above line departments over which they have formal legal and managerial authority. They are bureau- crats watching over other bureaucrats. Contrary to line departments, they have no direct link to the public. Line departments are responsible for delivering services and programs to citizens. They were often created as a result of politi- cal struggles and public pressures in the democratic arena. Line depart- ments possess a form of public legitimacy that central agencies do not have. Especially in the social sector, as well as in the area of education and health, citizens often mobilize and protest to defend the programs and services managed by bureaucrats in line departments. But citizens never go out in the streets to defend the powers of central agencies. Their only raison d’eˆtre is managerial. Developments in management theory justify their existence, not democratic pressures in the public realm.