Athens is said to be the birthplace of democracy, but as all things do, democracy has clearly come a long way. Democracy has changed so much to the point where one may wonder, "Was Athens really a 'democracy'?"
The officials in Athens created a governmental system far more top-quality than those of its peers, and because of this politics in Athens were easier. A democracy is a government of the people, where the people have the right to make changes in their government and there is no group or person who has more power, ever. When Athen's democracy first started the four tribes were split up into thirds and spread out, and the thirds split into over a hundred metropolises or towns. This way everyone was spread out evenly and could interact more with other towns.
The main problem with Athen's "democracy" is that the only people who had a voice in the government were the men. This is understandable as this democracy was formed around the fourth and fifth centuries and women did not get their suffrage rights till the 20th century. Another major difference is that just because you had an opinion did not mean that you would voice it, mostly the more courageous speakers would voice their opinions. Today if you voice your opinion and people do not like it a lot of people will dislike you, but back then if a lot of people disliked you they could vote to have you ostracized for a decade.
One thing that is similar to today if you want something to be discussed you can choose it and have a "representative". In America we have a Senate comprised of 2 senators from each state and a House of Representatives that are based on the population of a particular state. In Greece they had 500 men called the Boule which was comprised of 50 men from each tribe. They decided what to discuss.
One more large difference between Athens's democracy is that they actually approached religion in their government. In America's democracy we have subjects that are affected by our religious values and we have such things like "In God we Trust" but it was not as big as it was then.
So, I think that Athens had a democracy that was their time of history but as democracy is of the people, it is currently more of a DEMOCRACY.
"A Brief Outline of Athenian Democracy." History of Greece n. pag. Web. 18 Feb 2010.
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