Athens: A 'Democracy'?

Athens showed evidence of being both a democracy and not a democracy. The Athenian government did have its flaws.They were a democracy, but their deficiencies deprived them of more power. A small percentage of the population could vote and these people were only noblemen who were over thirty years old. Women held no power in Athenian government. If a speaker became too powerful, the Assembly could throw them out of the country. Athens was one of the only city states who had a somewhat stable government.

Image from: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caryatids_of_Erechtheum3.jpg

Citation: David, Johnson. "Lecture 10: The beginnings of democracy". 1999. Southern Illinois University. 17 Feb 2010. http://languages.siuc.edu/classics/Johnson/HTML/L10.html
"Sparta vs Athens". 1996-2010. Oakwood Mgt. 17 Feb 2010. http://www.studyworld.com/newsite/reportessay/History/European%5CSparta_Vs_Athens.htm