<P> The earliest known direct democracy is said to be the Athenian democracy in the 5th century BC , although it was not an inclusive democracy : women , foreigners , and slaves were excluded from it . The main bodies in the Athenian democracy were the assembly , composed of male citizens ; the boulê , composed of 500 citizens ; and the law courts , composed of a massive number of jurors chosen by lot , with no judges . There were only about 30,000 male citizens , but several thousand of them were politically active in each year , and many of them quite regularly for years on end . The Athenian democracy was direct not only in the sense that decisions were made by the assembled people , but also in the sense that the people through the assembly , boulê , and law courts controlled the entire political process , and a large proportion of citizens were involved constantly in the public business . Modern democracies , being representative , not direct , do not resemble the Athenian system . </P>
<P> The earliest known direct democracy is said to be the Athenian democracy in the 5th century BC , although it was not an inclusive democracy : women , foreigners , and slaves were excluded from it . The main bodies in the Athenian democracy were the assembly , composed of male citizens ; the boulê , composed of 500 citizens ; and the law courts , composed of a massive number of jurors chosen by lot , with no judges . There were only about 30,000 male citizens , but several thousand of them were politically active in each year , and many of them quite regularly for years on end . The Athenian democracy was direct not only in the sense that decisions were made by the assembled people , but also in the sense that the people through the assembly , boulê , and law courts controlled the entire political process , and a large proportion of citizens were involved constantly in the public business . Modern democracies , being representative , not direct , do not resemble the Athenian system . </P>
example of a government run as a direct democracy
example of a government run as a direct democracy
Athenian democracy
Athenian democracy