One probable structural characteristic of power stretched out in chain form is to create counter-flowing power, since the power of the system exceeds the potential selection capacity of a single power-holder and the ability of middle links in the chain to intervene serves them as a personal source of power. In this way power-codes are divided into 'formal' and 'informal', and the greatest agglomeration of formal/informal powers will be found at key points below the very top.

XREF: Connects to theories of organizational power and bureaucracy, where middle managers accrue informal authority beyond their formal rank. Also echoes principal-agent problems in political science.

Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, loc. 656