The introduction of political rights for all citizens and republican institutions was neither sudden nor abrupt. It took place over a period of several centuries, beginning in the Archaic Era and lasting all the way through the Classical Era. Athens, for example, notably withdrew and extended rights and citizenship on numerous occasions based on the social and political environment of each generation.

In many Greek city-states the poor were excluded from the political process until some tyrant seized power from the usual ruling elites. These tyrants would not generally be able to rely on the support of these displaced elites, so they had to turn to the common people to reinforce their regimes. Many tyrants began to extend political rights to the poor in exchange for the poor supporting their regime.

The Greek legal system during the Archaic Era was based around the concept of communal harmony. The most important aspect of justice to the Archaic Greeks was to maintain or repair peaceful social relations within a community. To this end, the punishment for a crime was not necessarily harsh (people might not even be executed for murder if the family of the victim accepted payment), the important thing was that the community could heal and move forward.

Solon was an Athenian lawmaker and politician in the sixth century BCE. He was primarily a legal reformer who made several key changes to the Athenian legal code. These reforms are credited with paving the way for the development of democracy in Athens.

The emergence of the idea of citizenship, during the early years of the Archaic Era in ancient Greece, was vital to the development of city-states and representative government. The degree to which citizenship was implemented varied significantly from city-state to city-state, but generally it conferred the right to vote for legislative assemblies, access to courts and protection of the law, protection from enslavement by other peoples, and the freedom to speak one’s mind. It did not, usually, guarantee the right to hold public office. This was generally limited by wealth, social status and property. It is worth noting that although women were considered citizens just like men, the freedoms and privileges afforded to them were less complete. Women, for example, generally could not vote or participate in the political process.

Slave uprisings were fairly uncommon in ancient Greek society. This is probably because in most Greek city-states, slaves never quite made up the majority of the population and were drawn from so many different backgrounds as to make communication and organization near impossible. The notable exception to this rule is Sparta. There were far more slaves in Spartan society when compared to other Greek city-states and slaves in Sparta were generally treated far more brutally. As a result, and not surprisingly, Sparta experienced several violent slave uprisings.

Many slaves were freed by their masters at some point during their lifetime. The reasons for this are extremely variable, and probably had to do with the personal relationship between master and slave. A freed slave in ancient Greece tended to become a "Metic" — a free, foreign-born resident of the city who had no citizenship rights.

According to most reliable accounts of the time period, Solon was appointed to a position of near-tyrannical power in Athens during the Archaic Era because the Athenian people felt he possessed the wisdom and judgment to resolve their social and economic tensions. Solon enacted a series of reforms that contributed to the emergence of republican ideals in Athenian society.

Periander ruled the city-state of Corinth as a tyrant in the seventh century BCE. He is generally recognized as a particularly capable ruler who presided over Corinth at the height of its economic and political power.

Female citizens in most Greek city-states were considered inferior to men and excluded from the political process (they could not vote nor attend assemblies). Nevertheless, female citizens were still citizens and enjoyed rights that would have been unfamiliar to women in most of the rest of the world (including noncitizen residents of ancient Greece). Female citizens were afforded protection from kidnapping and enslavement (a common practice in this time period). They were able to participate in religious ceremonies and could even lead cults as priestesses; and, crucially, they had access to courts and the judicial system which allowed them to protect their property and their rights. It is worth noting, however, that women could not actually represent themselves in court — men would have to speak on their behalf. So, whilst female citizens enjoyed many important rights and privileges, they were nonetheless still considered inferior to men.