The twentieth century saw democracy at the forefront, a sharp contrast from a history in which most people did not exist under democratic systems. The first appearance of democracy in ancient Athens around the fifth century B.C. is an exceptional phenomenon. While modern Americans define the concept of "democracy" in terms of the United States government, the word can be used to cover a range of governmental forms. Specifically, Athenian democracy, though it lends much to the Western conception of the term, does contrast with the current system. The essential nature of Athenian democracy is that of rule by the many through direct representation. As in every governmental structure, Athenian democracy exhibits both strengths and weaknesses. While equality before the law and freedom of speech are praised ideals of democracy, the exclusion of the majority of actual inhabitants of Athens and an imperialistic foreign policy are faults of the system. .
An essential feature of democracy is that the system "favors the many instead of the few," as Pericles so poignantly stated in his Funeral Oration (30). With both tyranny and oligarchy, the best interest of the masses often takes a back seat to the personal interests of the small number in power. The people which need the government most and compose most of the state have little or no profound influence on the system. In the Pseudo-Xenophon excerpt on The Constitution of the Athenians, he concedes that the poor and ordinary should have more power than the nobles because they are those which work to make the city powerful. Though the sweeping reforms of Solon in 600 B.C. did not give the lower class thetes who comprised the majority the right to hold office, they could participate in ecclesia, the Assembly, and have their grievances and suggestions known. Aristotle in his Politics, agrees with this decision, and comments that Solon "gave people only the necessary minimum of power" (41).