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This study considers the content and dynamics behind the exercise of power of regulatory agencies in Brazil and the justification for it. Regulatory agencies carry a double legitimacy comprising the political power of the government as well as their own agency features. Taking concrete examples, the authors claim that the decisions of regulatory agencies may imply confrontation or compatibility with the decisions taken by the political authorities. Further, regulatory agencies may actually lack independence from political authority, given that in some cases government decisions prevail. Finally, the double legitimacy of the regulatory agencies allows them, when both elements are present, to enjoy a “super legitimacy.”