When pericles speaks about the athenian form of government, how does he define a democracy?

As Thucydides recounts Pericles claiming in a famous speech, "Our natural bravery springs from our way of life, not from the compulsion of laws...We are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in our tastes, and we cultivate the arts without loss of manliness." Athens under the leadership of Pericles was populated by citizens intensely loyal and proud of their city state where the government was renown for justice and the streets adorned with beautiful public buildings and art some of which survives to this day. It was a happy moment of ancient history when free and prosperous men said things about the human condition which have not been said better since, in my opinion. 
Perhaps no other city or culture has enjoyed such a fertile period of genius and brilliance in so many different disciplines. In philosophy, Athens produced Socrates, Anaxagoras and Plato; in history, Herodotus and Thucydides; in literature, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. As a culture which prized intelligence and pleasure, Athens boasted a veritable pantheon of exceptional citizens who achieved brilliance in the arts, medicine, mathematics, and philosophy.