“…A second major research trend has focused on the tensions between top bureaucrats and politicians (Aberbach and Rockman, 2006;Christensen and Laegreid, 2012). Among this extensive literature, a few studies have related these tensions to managerial roles (Ammons and Newell, 1989;Bäck, Heinelt and Magnier, 2006;Eskridge, 2014;Klausen and Magnier, 1998;Mouritzen and Svara, 2002). Despite the importance of this topic, there is little empirical evidence about how managerial roles are performed in political positions and top civil servant positions when both are acting as managers, that is, responsible for a unit (ministry, secretary, department, etc.…”