Athenians practiced direct form of democracy. However, it is not every Athenian who were counted, and the process basically excluded the poor, women and slaves.
However, the concept of democracy has been expanded to include every body in society from poor to rich, all free men, as slaves no longer counts, and women as well. In Athenian democracy, the people with the loudest mouths often carried the day, which is not the case today, as voting is practiced through secret ballot.
