On Good Leaders and their Associates

Abstract. Group members value informed decisions and hold ideological preferences. A leader takes a decision on their behalf. Good leadership depends on characteristics of moderation and judgement. The latter emerges (endogenously) via advice communi-cated by “trustworthy associates”. Trustworthy advice requires ideological proximity to the leader. A group may chose a relatively extreme leader with a large number of such associates. Paradoxically, this can happen though it is in the group’s collective interest to choose a moderate leader. To develop our analysis further we study two-party competition: each party chooses a leader who implements her preferred policy if elected. A party may choose an extreme leader who defeats a moderate chosen by the opposing party. Our results highlight the importance of party cohesion and relations between a leader and her party. These can be more important to electoral success than proximity of a leader’s position to the median voter. E la prima coniettura che si fa del cervello d’uno signore, e ́ vedere li uomini che lui ha d’intorno. [Transl.: The first opinion which one forms of a prince, and of her under-standing, is by observing the men she has around her.] Niccolo ’ Machiavelli, Il Principe