This study tests the common conception that democratically elected leaders behave in the interest of their constituents more than traditional chiefs do. Our sample includes 64 village leaders and 384 villagers in rural Namibia, where democratically elected leaders and traditional chiefs coexist. We analyze two main attributes of local political leaders: procedural fairness preferences and preferential treatment of relatives (nepotism). We also measure personality traits and social preferences, and conduct standardized surveys on local governance practices and villagers' perceptions of their leaders' performance. Our results indicate that traditional chiefs are as likely to implement fair, democratic decision-making procedures, and are as unlikely to be nepotistic. Moreover, elected leaders and chiefs express similar social preferences and personality traits. These findings align with villagers' perceptions of most leaders in our sample as being popular and fair, and villagers' responses reveal a discrepancy between planned and de facto implementation of democratic institutions.

中文翻译：

---

纳米比亚农村地区传统和民主领导人之间的程序公正和裙带关系。

这项研究检验了这样一个普遍的观念，即民主选举的领导人比传统的酋长更符合其选民的利益。我们的样本包括纳米比亚农村地区的64个村领导和384个村民，民主选举的领导人和传统酋长并存。我们分析了地方政治领导人的两个主要属性：程序公正偏好和对亲属的优惠待遇（裙带关系）。我们还测量人格特质和社会偏好，并就地方治理实践和村民对其领导者表现的看法进行标准化调查。我们的结果表明，传统的酋长们有可能执行公正，民主的决策程序，而且不太可能是裙带关系。此外，当选的领导人和酋长表达类似的社会偏好和个性特征。这些发现与村民对我们样本中大多数领导人的看法是一致的，并且村民的反应表明，民主制度的计划实施与事实上实施之间存在差异。