Was Athens Really a Democracy?

In ancient Greece, the city of Athens had the most advanced political system, that is closest to modern standards, of its time. Athens was governed by an early form of democracy. It is an early form because the system wasn't as fair, complex, or well thought out and as run governed as modern democracies, like the USA's government. In Athens, only a select people could vote and have a say in the government. These people were pure Athenian men, that held a "share" in the government. These people weren't represented by politicians, they were just regular people voting on how the city was going to be run.

There are some similarities to modern day democracies however. They had a system that prevented civil war and one person taking control of the government. This was more harsh than our modern day rule that someone can't serve more than a specific amount of time. In ancient Athens, the politicians were exiled for years at a time. The Athenians also started the process of the citizens running the government. No matter how many differences there are between modern day and ancient forms of democracies, this system was started by the Athenians, and we should be grateful for that.

"BBC - History - Ancient History in depth: The Democratic Experiment." BBC - Homepage. Web. 18 Feb. 2010. .