Title: "The Abolition of Privilege: A Model of the Dynamic Spread of Egalitarian Ideas in Revolutionary France 1789–1795".

Authors: Cécile Bastidon (Univ. Toulon, OFCE - Sciences Po; CAC-IXXI, Institut Rhône-Alpin des Systèmes Complexes), Steven Durlauf (Univ. Chicago), Antoine Parent (LED, Univ. Paris 8; OFCE - Sciences Po; CAC-IXXI, Institut Rhône-Alpin des Systèmes Complexes).

Abstract: we propose a graph model of the diffusion of revolutionary ideas by the clubs (sociétés populaires) in revolutionary France 1789-1795 that is consistent with the information available on the functioning of these clubs, in particular their sociological composition marked by a great diversity, and the pluralism of the ideas debated. The transmission within and outside the clubs of information received from the revolutionary government is modeled by an epidemiological model of the SIR type. The institutional transition generated by the episode of the French Revolution and leading to the new regime of modern democracy occurs when the cumulative external transmission of information by the clubs exceeds a given threshold related to both the nature of ideas and the rules and prevalence of the clubs. This way we demonstrate how these clubs, by their specific structure, have been the vehicle of the diffusion of the perennial revolutionary ideals of liberty, equality, fraternity throughout the territory.