Well, the boss is the boss and he is supposed to do whatever he wants to do, but I wonder if there is a limit for him. Joseph Bonanno failed to make his son the boss, Paul Castellano was murdered by John Gotti, Carmine Galante is believed to be kill by his own men, Albert Anastasia is believed to be killed under Carlo Gambino´s orders, Vincent Mangano disappeared maybe under Albert Anastasia´s orders, Vito Genovese unsuccesfully tried to kill Frank Costello using The Chin, Joseph Colombo sold Joe Magliocco out to the Commission.
How long can a boss be safe?(well, he is never safe, but safe within the parameters he is supposed to be protected by his men)Is a boss controled by his men as a president by the people? I mean if the members of the family he runs don´t like an order or a decision,or they are not happy with the administration, they get a low income or whatever. The boss fails to keep his men happy.

Short answer: No, The Boss cannot do whatever he wants to do.

Long answer: Although it may seem glamourous and a dream job for an aspiring Mafioso wannabe, The Boss of The Family is probably one of the worst jobs you could have. First of all, everyone is gunning for you and your job so you can't really trust too many people and your job is never safe, not to mention your life. Second, The Boss has many, many responsibilities and although a lot of this stuff is delegated to the Underboss and Consigliere and key Capos, The Boss is still the final word and has tremendous power. With this power comes much responsibility and many problems to be frank. A Boss has to be smart and cunning like a fox, and strong and fearless like a lion. This combination is found in very few people and this is why there have been so few quality Dons in the history of The North American Cosa Nostra. The few exceptions include Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Carlo Gambino, Alphonse "Scarface" Capone and to a certain extent Frank Costello, Vincent "Vinnie The Chin" Gigante and Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno.

A Mafia Don is an absolute monarch. But like all absolute monarchs, he has to constantly exercise his absolute power discretely, and be on guard for conspirators around him. In other words, he can't do whatever he wants to do--if he wants to do things that he knows are patently stupid or that will piss off everyone around him.
To zero in on just two examples:
Joe Bonanno was a true absolute monarch. He wanted to have his son succeed him. He probably could have done that. But he wanted more. He stupidly conspired to whack two fellow Dons: Tommy Lucchese and Carlo Gambino. Of course this plot was revealed, and the Commission tried to strip him of his Donship. The Commission failed to put their own man, Gaspar DiGregorio, in place; but Bonanno was ultimately forced to abdicate, and his son never got to be the Don.
Paul Castellano thought he could violate certain Mob "protocols": he carried on under his own roof with his Colombian housemaid while his wife and daughter were present; did not mingle with his men and required them to visit him; did not pay his respects to his deceased underboss, Neil Dellacroce; and squeezed money from his subordinates unmercifully. All of that was tolerated. But when he moved against Dellacroce's protege, John Gotti, he went over the line. It's not that Gotti was so popular among Castellano's men--it was that they'd had enough; and when Gotti volunteered to take the risk of killing Castellano, they didn't object. That's another way that a Don doesn't have absolute power. For that matter, Gotti never was able to impose his own son as his successor.

Turnbull, don't mean to sound like an asskiss or anything, but you've hit another Home Run man! The absolute monarch analogy is so apt because there were successful absolute monarchs (in a completely undemocratic sense of course) such as Louis XIV, and The King of Prussia during Immanuel Kant's time (can't remember his name) and unsuccessful ones such as Louis XVI and George Bush II.

A Mafia Don is like an absolute monarch, but as I said above, he has to be cunning, quick, and crafty like a fox and strong, brave and fearless like a lion. This combination is found in so few people and that is why so few people are extremely successful, whether it be in the legitimate or illegitimate worlds.

It was Frederick William II, and he successfully prohibited Kant from writing or teaching on any religious subjects--a very apt analogy, Don Jasani! As you probably know, Gambino is alleged to have used the "lion and fox" analogy with his subordinates.

Don Jasani, that´s why Carlo Gambino´s quote may be one(if not the best)of the best in the Mafia.

"You have to be like a lion and a fox. The lion scares the wolves away, the fox discovers the traps. If you are a lion and a fox nobody can defeat you" Carlo Gambino

Turnbull, despite a monarch, a Mafia boss could be a president and his subordinates the people who have chosen him. At any rate, the boss has to make his men happy.

Absolutely right! That's one of the reasons why he can't do anything he wants to.

Absolutely right! That's one of the reasons why he can't do anything he wants to. [/b][/quote]A boss can do whatever he wants to do whithin the allowed parameters, right?

For example, I guess a boss cannot embarrase a man in front of his squad. Vincent Mangano shouted at Albert Anastasia, his underboss in front of his men while embarrasing him after Anastasia suggested to kill Thomas Dewey. I guess Albert Anastasia couldn`t forget and forgive such an attitude from Vincent Mangano, and didn`t matter he was the boss, and Mangano just dissapeared.

What about Chicago?
Only one one family but a few influential players.
Would you say Accardo was the manager but not an absolute monarch?(at least while Ricca and Humphries were still around)
Giancana got the job when Accardo temporarily retired.