Our Gemara on amud aleph quotes the verse that describes the inauguration and succession plan of the Cohen Gadol. Rashi on this verse (Vayikra 16:32) quotes a Sifra that states that the verse indicates that we appoint the Cohen’s son to be his successor so long as he follows in his father’s footsteps. Let us discuss the ethics of succession in Judaism:
In secular philosophy, there is no legal or moral right for any leader to appoint his child to be his successor, although notably in recent decades there have been sons of presidents, sons of governors, and spouses of presidents who have been nominated and sometimes successfully won office. (Coumo, Bush, Kennedy, Clinton and for 2024, possibly a Trump and Obama relative.) This shows, there is some collective wisdom and belief that an “heir to the throne” has certain qualities that give him or her a leg up over presumably equal contemporaries. Thus, we should not consider the Torah ethic as alien to our democratic thinking as we might react at first glance.
The Rambam in Laws of Kings (1:7), based on the Sifri (see Kessef Mishne) states this idea of succession applies to all leadership positions. The son is chosen over others, so long as it is determined That he is following in his father‘s footsteps. The Rambam (ibid and Kessef Mishna based on Kesuvos 103b) further clarifies this requirement and discusses the following scenario:
What if the heir did not have all his fathers qualities, such as he had his father’s piety but did not have his wisdom, or the reverse, he had his wisdom without his piety? Here, the Rambam draws an important distinction.
If the person has his father’s fear of G-d but not his knowledge attainment, then we appoint him anyhow, and teach him the wisdom required for the role. But, if he has the knowledge and yet is lacking in his fear of G-d, then we do not give him the position. Giving some thought to this, we see that in regard to knowledge attainment, we could trust that a person can acquire it on the job. If he has the requisite character traits such as fear of G-d he will be humble enough and disciplined enough to acquire the wisdom. However, if he has the knowledge base to perform the role while lacking in the character traits, we cannot assume that he will acquire them and learn them on the job.
Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation 
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