In ancient Greek the word demokratia was ambiguous, it literally means ‘people-power’. There’s a theory that the word demokratia was coined by democracy’s enemies, members of the rich and aristocratic elite who did not like being outvoted by the common herd, theory social and economic inferiors. If this theory is right, democracy must originally have meant something like ’mob rule’ or ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’.

Scale: there were no proper population censuses in ancient Athens, but the most educated modern guess puts the total population of fifth century Athens, around 250,000 - men  and women and children, free and unfree.  

Level of participation: in modern day democracy is a representative - we choose politicians to rule for us. However, in Ancient Greece, to make it as participatory as possible, most officials and all jurymen were selected by lot. This was thought to be the democratic way, since election favoured the rich, famous and powerful over the ordinary citizen.

Eligibility: Only adult male citizens need apply for the privileges and duties of democratic government, and a birth criterion of double descent - from an Athenian mother as well as father - was strictly insisted upon.This is why status was very important