Unanimous election legitimizes a boss and publicly commits the voters

Evidence

The head of the family, or capo famiglia, also known as the rappresentante, is normally elected by the men of honor in his family; he then appoints a vice-capo and a consigliere (a maximum of three, according to Buscetta), although some families either do not have these positions or attach no importance to them. Elections in this context express the approval on which reputation rests. Voters do not so much choose as legitimize a choice: if all agree to make A the boss, that agreement and the knowledge that it is unanimous become the backbone of A’s reputation. Voting also serves to commit the voter publicly. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 284

Categorization

• XREF: Mirrors Milgrom’s private-judge model and Schelling’s idea that public commitment devices bind actors — the vote as a costly public commitment to the chosen boss.