In Lord of the Flies, is having a chief the only choice for how the boys can organize themselves?

A number of possible ways to organize themselves could have been used by the boys in Lord of the Flies. The boys could have had a council, a triumvirate, or a partnership to act as leaders. They could also have had a buddy system. 

A council of five or seven of the oldest boys might have been a wise choice. Such an arrangement would have allowed various perspectives to be shared more fully, and...

A number of possible ways to organize themselves could have been used by the boys in Lord of the Flies. The boys could have had a council, a triumvirate, or a partnership to act as leaders. They could also have had a buddy system. 

A council of five or seven of the oldest boys might have been a wise choice. Such an arrangement would have allowed various perspectives to be shared more fully, and it may have prevented the jealousies between Jack and Ralph from getting out of hand. By having an odd number of boys on the group, tie votes would have been impossible. Jack might have been held in check if four other boys with equal authority all tried to rein him in.

A triumvirate of Ralph, Piggy, and Jack might have been effective, but it probably would have ended up with Ralph and Piggy siding against Jack, which is what happened anyway. Jack would have had to be willing to accept Piggy as an equal, which he may not have done. 

A partnership would mimic a parenting situation. If Ralph and Jack had been co-chiefs, some of the jealousy could possibly have been avoided, and Jack may have been more vested in the success of the society. However, a father and mother generally have love for one another that allows a level of give and take in the relationship, resulting in a softening of the harsher partner and a strengthening of the milder partner. Since Ralph and Jack did not have a commitment to or love for each other, partnership rule could have resulted in stalemates and competition, which happened anyway.

A buddy system could have been put in place no matter what the leadership strategy was. Instead of assigning Piggy the task of cataloging all the littluns himself, each older boy could have been assigned a younger boy to mentor and keep track of. Having a younger boy for whom to act as a role model may have resulted in many of the boys "stepping up" to take responsibility on the island in a personal way--rather that just being part of the "hunters" group, for instance. The buddy system may have prevented the loss of life of the boy with the mulberry birthmark in the first fire. The organization the boys put in place, with its top-down structure, did not place enough emphasis on the emotional and social development of the boys and created a selfish mindset where most boys only thought of their own needs and desires. Establishing a buddy system from the beginning may have resulted in a different outcome for the boys.