Athenian Democracy — The World's First Democratic System

Around 508–507 BCE, the Athenian statesman Cleisthenes introduced a series of political reforms that created the world's first known democracy. Under his system (demokratia — 'rule by the people'), male Athenian citizens could vote in the Assembly (Ekklesia), serve on juries of hundreds of citizens, and hold public office selected by lottery. Though limited by modern standards — women, slaves, and non-citizens were excluded — Athenian democracy laid the conceptual foundation for representative government worldwide. The system survived, with interruptions, for about 185 years.

Earlier participatory governance existed in some city-states and Near Eastern cultures, but Athens developed the most documented and influential model of direct democracy.