It was democracy or rule by the people.Not everyone had a vote though.Only a male citizen had say in hoe the city was run.There were about 30000 citizen.The ruling Council had 500 members,all men,and chosen for a year at a time.Women could not be citizen,nor could slaves of foreigners.The citizen met to vote on new laws put forward by the Council.Usually around 5000 citizen met,every 10 days or so on hill called the Pnyx.In Athens,you can still see the stones of this historic meeting place.