Pericles celebrates Athenian democracy in his funeral speech. What is it about the Athenian form of government that makes citizens in a democracy...

First of all, we need to establish what democracy meant in Athens in the 5th century BCE and how it operated. In doing so, we will see it was radically different from what we mean by democracy today. In Athens, democracy was direct. This means that every single male citizen who was not a slave not only had a say in government, but could participate directly in the affairs of state. This is what Pericles is referring to in his funeral oration when he says,

Its [i.e., the Athenian constitution's] administration favors the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy.

This stands in contrast to the system of representative democracy prevalent in the developed world today. Now, decisions relating to a country's governance are made by elected representatives, such as members of Parliament in the United Kingdom and members of Congress in the United States.

Athenian democracy consisted, then, of a deeply ingrained formal equality. This imbued all men (that is, free men, not slaves) with a sense of brotherhood, one that transcended differences of class, wealth, and social status. In reality, of course, things were a good deal more complicated than Pericles makes out.

Nevertheless, the governing notion of equality had enough reality in it to take hold of Athenians' understanding of themselves. Free Athenian men could proudly look upon themselves as being part of something bigger—a common endeavor that held them close together in a brotherly bond as they battled for supremacy in the Hellenic world. The idea of friendship between the Athenians lies not just in this world. It also forms an unbreakable bond between the dead and the living; between those who courageously gave their lives for Athens and its democracy and those now sworn to carry on that tradition of noble sacrifice.

For Pericles, friendship also relates to how Athens deals with foreign powers. He is proud of the way Athens conducts itself towards other peoples:

In generosity we are equally singular, acquiring our friends by conferring, not by receiving, favors.

A proud democracy like Athens does not develop friendly relations with other states through indebtedness. Such would be a position of weakness and submission. On the contrary, it is Athens that confers favors upon other city states and territories. In doing so, it creates a network of friendship and mutual support founded (as Pericles believes) on a spirit of generosity. The equality and friendship of all free men in Athens can be exported overseas, spreading the civilizing benefits of Athenian culture far and wide.

Pericles's understanding of what effectively amounts to colonialism is somewhat naive. Although to be fair to him, he did openly acknowledge, if not accept, that the Athenian empire had become, in the eyes of other Greeks, not an amicable civilizing mission but a tyranny. Eventually, the heavy-handedness of the Athenians in their bestowal of favors upon their colonized "friends" forced them into the arms of the Spartans, who put together an unbeatable alliance which ultimately defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War.

In conclusion, it is important not to take Pericles at face value. His funeral speech was a piece of rhetoric. And like all rhetoric it was designed to persuade and convince its hearers, rather than establish the truth. The underlying contradictions of Athenian political life and the common bonds of friendship that supposedly existed were fatally exposed, bursting into the open in Athens's relations with other states. In examining those relations we can perhaps gain a better understanding of what friendship to the Athenians really involved, not just abroad but also at home. Effectively we can begin to comprehend how this fatal lack of self-understanding on the part of the Athenians led to their ultimate demise.