the greek concept of democracy included political participation by
Athenian democracy It was a system of direct democracy, in which participating citizens voted directly on legislation and executive bills. Participation was not open to all residents: to vote one had to be an adult, male citizen i.e. neither a foreign resident, slave or a woman and the number of these "varied between 30,000 and 50,000 out of a total population of around 250,000 to 300,000" or "no more than 30 percent of the total adult population."[1]
History of democracy Ancient Greece, in its early period, was a loose collection of independent city states called poleis. Many of these poleis were oligarchies.[20] The most prominent Greek oligarchy, and the state with which democratic Athens is most often and most fruitfully compared, was Sparta. Yet Sparta, in its rejection of private wealth as a primary social differentiator, was a peculiar kind of oligarchy[21] and some scholars note its resemblance to democracy.[22][23][24] In Spartan government, the political power was divided between four bodies: two Spartan Kings (diarchy), gerousia (Council of Gerontes (Elders), including the two kings), the ephors (representatives of the citizens who oversaw the Kings) and the apella (assembly of Spartans).