WORLD CIVILIZATION

Detailed explanation-1: -Athenian democracy developed around the 6th century BC in the Greek city-state (known as a polis) of Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica.

Detailed explanation-2: -Rule by a Few People In early Athens, kings ruled the city-state. Later, a group of rich landowners, or aristocrats (uh-R I S-tuhkrats), took power. A government in which only a few people have power is called an oligarchy (AH-luh-gar-kee). The aristocrats dominated Athenian society.

Detailed explanation-3: -Cleisthenes successfully allied himself with the popular Assembly against the nobles (508) and imposed democratic reform. Perhaps his most important innovation was the basing of individual political responsibility on citizenship of a place rather than on membership in a clan.

Detailed explanation-4: -When a new law was proposed, all the citizens of Athens had the opportunity to vote on it. To vote, citizens had to attend the assembly on the day the vote took place. This form of government is called direct democracy.

Detailed explanation-5: -Until the war, most of the leading Athenian politicians had come from noble families. The democratic form of government in the city-state of Athens remained an anomaly, however, as the rest of the Greek city-states were run either as tyrannies or, most often, by oligarchies.