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 …showed first 75 words of 1455 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1455 total…Ephialtes. By the end of the 5th century Athens was a true democracy. The bulk of the decision making was up to the citizens of Athens. Power for the demos had been achieved. Bibliography "Studies in Greek history" N.G.L Hammond Oxford press 1973 "Aspects of Athenian Democracy" J Rufus fears et. al seum jusculanum press 1990 www.google.com www.mamma.com www.yahoo.com "the development of Athenian democracy" " The greek world 500-440 BC"