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The aim of this article is to categorise the factors of tension in public organisational settings. The context of the administrative reforms undertaken in Tunisia has been chosen as an empirical illustration of the public governance tensions associated with managerial artefacts. The study focuses on three types of factors. An analysis of these factors confirms the theories on the appropriation of management tools and helps raise the existing level of knowledge in relation to the processes to mitigate public governance tensions within public organisations. Points for practitioners Today, the modernisation of public governance goes hand in hand with the introduction of new public management tools in administrative settings. On a practical level, the appropriation of these tools generates a tense relationship between political decision-makers and public managers. Often perceived from the perspective of paradoxical demands and antagonistic relationships that disrupt the daily life of state organisations, public governance tensions can be managed as long as they are identified and categorised in the light of the factors of tension associated with the reforms undertaken.