Let me say that our system of government does not copy the institutions of our neighbours. it is more the case of our being a model to others, than of our imitating anyone else. our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people. when it is a question of settling private disputes, everyone is equal before the law; when it is a question of putting one person before another in positions of public responsibility, what counts is not membership of a particular class, but the actual ability which the man possesses. â€"pericles’s funeral oration, thucydides what is the central idea of this excerpt? other states look to athens as a political leader. athenians take their public responsibilities seriously. athens is unique in its commitment to democracy. athenians are equal because athens is free of social classes.