The term democracy comes from the Greek language and means "government by the people" (Democracy Building 2012). The democracy of Athens represents the precursors of modern democracies. Like our modern democracy, Athenian democracy was created as a reaction to the concentration and abuse of power by rulers. Philosophers defined the essential elements of democracy as separation of powers, fundamental civil rights, human rights, religious freedom, and separation of church and state. The most current definition of democracy is that of “government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or their elected agents in a free electoral system.” (Dictionary.com). American democracy was greatly influenced by Athenian democracy. The founding fathers of American democracy borrowed ideas from the Athenian way of governing. We Americans currently live in a democracy very different from that of Athens and from what the founding fathers of American democracy imagined. There are also some commonalities between Athens and what our Founding Fathers intended. . The laws of democracy today can be traced back to Athenian democracy and what our founding fathers originally envisioned. Some major differences and similarities between modern American democracy, Athenian democracy, and what the Founding Fathers envisioned are the size of democracies, a citizen's eligibility to participate in democracy, and how a citizen participated. Athens was known as a city/state. Athens was the size of a city in modern America and was made up of rural communities. There are different estimates of the population of ancient At...... half of the document ......by the Founders depends on the answer to another question. Are Americans today better informed and equipped to be wise and prudent democratic citizens than American citizens of yesterday? No, today's American citizens seem to be happy. We are satisfied that our government has become socialized. Americans only think about what I get out of it. Overall we are failing the democratic system as we know it. We allow the same individuals to make decisions for our country that are not beneficial to the common person. The rich are getting richer in America. Politicians in modern democracy are not interested in what is good for the common person, but in what is most beneficial for them. If we continue on this path our democracy will one day become extinct. We need to go back to the roots of democracy and remember what the true meaning is. Power to the people!