Athenian Government Athenian Concept American Democracy American Democracy Concept The Archon Athens set 30 years as the minimum age to be an archon The President The United States set 35 years as the minimum age to be president. The Council of 500 The U. S. Senate has two people to represent each state. House of Representatives The Constitution gave Congress the power to determine the size of the House and to divide representation according to state population. States with large populations have more representatives than small states. The Law and Courts The U. S. uses judges and juries. The U. S. has 12 jurors per case. Every citizen had to vote on every issue. Decisions were made based on a consensus from the majority of voters. Representative/Indirect Democracy Citizenship limited Over the years, the laws have been changed to allow citizens who were non-landowners, former slaves, Native Americans, and women to vote. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was passed to support minorities and remove the literacy requirements for voting.