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There are four factors undermining the image of public managers. The proximity factor was singled out as being linked to the behavior of managers having to criticize a member of staff. The psychoanalytic factor is linked to the character of public service, compassionate and caring, where staff expect managers to fulfill a parental role, in other words to meet all their needs. The medical or psychiatric factor is linked to projections by sociologist psychiatrists who see managers as the root of all evil within their office. The final factor is quantitative. In the face of ever-increasing demands for free services, the public sector is becoming more and more expensive, while the number and quality of services are stagnating or decreasing. The worst images are reserved for politicians and junior managers.