Greece in the past Athens was one of the first known and most influential democracies in ancient times; the term "democracy" (Greek: demokratia-"rule of the people") was used by the Athenians around 508 BC to describe their form of administration. In fact, Greece as a whole started adopting elements of democracy during this period, although it would not be until later that individual cities would adopt true democratic systems. However, it was Athens that developed the concept into an organized form of government that could withstand constitutional change. Athens' system was based on the idea of the sovereignty of the people, which meant that power was vested in the people themselves through their elected representatives called Archons. The people could remove their leaders via ostracism, where they would exile an official for ten years. This would cause any previous decisions made by the person exiled to be invalidated in order to prevent oppression by society from becoming entrenched through the appointment of a successor. If Athens were to lose its democracy, then it would have been possible for another city to develop a similar system. However, no other city was able to match the success of Athens and by the end of the fifth century BC, only Athens remained a democracy. In conclusion, democracy is a form of government where the sovereignty of the people is vested in themselves or their elected representatives.