In chapter 1 of the Lord of the Flies, Ralph was elected as the chief by the votes of the boys. One of the other boys, Jack Merridew, seemed more likely to be elected chief, clearly because he wanted the position. Ralph won the vote, because the younger children were in favor of him, even though Jack had most of the older boys votes. Ralph was seen to be more intelligent, which was shown through him summoning them by with the conch. He also was supported by Piggy, who was very valuable as he was clearly the most smartest and most useful of them all (especially with his glasses). Piggy was a very important character as he acted as an adviser to Ralph, because he lacked communication skills. All in all, Ralph was the chief because he had good leadership qualities. This was shown through him listening to everyone, not just the older boys, and having good social skills, which was shown through his communication and fitting in with the other boys. Jack and Piggy both were lacking one or more of these qualities.

My society also follows a democratic structure, like Ralph's, since we vote for our mayor. However, the Mayor doesn't have nearly as much obedience as Ralph, or the amount of power Ralph has. Ralph is also more important to his people. Our society is set up in a way that every family can support itself, but Ralph and his society had to support itself, and the only way to do that is by working together. He ordered some to make shelters, others to get meat and fruit ready to eat, to take care of the signal fire, and to get water. Our mayor attends meetings and conducts municipal business. He may participate in community activities and social events like parades, flag raising, fundraisers, banquets, etc. The main difference between the leadership in Ralph's society and in ours is that we use our Mayor more as a symbol who can only sign papers while Ralph's leadership is needed for survival.