The Athenian political system of the 4th century was somewhat democratic to certain extents in various aspects. The word democracy derived from the Latin words, `demos' which means people and `kratos' which means rule. According to Aristotle, democracy would mean freedom and that the sovereignty was in the hands of the majority (Sinclair 1988: 21). However, the term `democracy' cannot be aptly defined as it conveys different messages to different people. For instance, most of the Athenians thought very highly of their constitution and believed it to be truly democratic while some may argue otherwise (Jones 1957: 42, 99). This essay will discuss the distribution of power and the validity of the Athenian democracy from the Athenian point of view.

In order to analyze the authenticity of the system, one must understand the system first. According to Pericles, the administration of Athens was governed by "the many" (Agard 1942: 69). In this context, "the many...