The Bully Election: Leader Election in Distributed Systems

    The Bully Election Algorithm The Bully Algorithm, proposed by Hector Garcia-Molina in 1982, is a classic leader election algorithm for distributed systems. It’s called “bully” because the highest-numbered process always wins and “bullies” the others into accepting it as leader. The Scenario A distributed system needs a coordinator: N nodes in a network Each node has a unique ID (priority) One node must be elected as leader When the leader fails, a new leader must be elected Rule: The node with the highest ID wins The protocol: ...

    November 18, 2025 · 12 min · Rafiul Alam