Democracy comes from two Greek words: demos, which means, "people" and kratein, which means "to rule". Democracy first appeared in Athens towards the beginning of the fifth century B.C. The biggest difference between Athenian democracy and almost all other democracies is that the Athenain version was a direct democracy rather than being representative.
Democracy in Athens came about as a result of the growing navel power and the reforms of leaders such as Cleisthenes and Pericles. In order to truly understand the development of Athenain democracy it is imperative to know about Cleisthenes and his impact on this institution. To end regional divisions, Cleisthenes created over 140 townships (demes), which replaced the phratries as the basis of citizenship. Ten tribes (phylai) were created, and Attica divided into three regions: the city of Athens, the coast, and the interior. …
