In the network approach, public actors do not play the dominant role they often are ascribed in other public administration perspectives. This has evoked criticism. The network approach is accused of considering government merely as ‘an actor among actors’, which can lead to problems of democratic legitimacy or accountability (Hirst 1994; Rhodes 1997). Sometimes critics describe networks as closed subsystems dominated by established interest groups, which impede innovation and maximize their private interests at the cost of others. As a result the common interest is neglected and the primacy of politics is eroded (Ripley and Franklin 1987; Marsh and Rhodes 1992; De Bruijn and Ringeling 1997). From this point of view it is inconceivable to present a network approach as a normative theory. Yet this is what we do when we derive evaluation criteria and prescriptions from network theory. In this section we warn against mixing up the real world and the theoretical framework that is used to analyse, evaluate and improve it. If the real world does not tour norms, this does not mean we can refrain from it, or that our attempts to improve it are not subject to the same normative shortcomings. The fact that government is confronted with the reality of its dependency upon other actors does not imply that its position is not special. Nor does developing network strategies and strategies for network management imply that the shortcomings of existing realities are accepted and elevated to guiding principles. So, there are clearly misunderstand-ings about the position of government in network theory. In this section we will clarify the ideas within network theory on the role of governments as public managers in networks and the risks and potential these have for representation of the public interest and the primacy of politics.