The meaning of equality was purely political and did not cover the social and economic spheres. Women, metics and slaves were excluded from participation in public affairs because they did not have full civil rights. The establishment of the system of cleruchies brought relief to mainly the poorest Athenian citizens, satisfying their desire for land, but it did not try to redress economic inequalities among Athenians, nor did it try to enable them to enjoy equal financial privileges. Wealth, or at least prosperity was necessary for a citizen if he wanted to play an active part in public affairs, and for that reason the citizens who were regularly engaged in politics were usually wealthy enough not to worry about loss of income. As some offices were extremely time-consuming it was not financially viable for the poorer Athenians who depended on daily labour for their survival to hold them. The judicial and council pay in the 5th century B.C. and the Assembly pay in the 4th century B.C. was relatively low and did not really enable the active participation of the lower social classes in public affairs.

Although isegoria, the equal right to speech, existed in theory and was a basic tenet of the Popular Assembly, in practice it was the residents of Athens who dominated the Assembly, as distance often prevented those living in the countryside from attending meetings. Moreover, some offices were extremely time-consuming, and thus poorer Athenians who had to work for a living could not afford to take them on. The Judicial and Council fees in the 5th century BC and the Assembly fee in the 4th were relatively low, and therefore did little to encourage the poorer members of society to participate in public affairs.