Final answer:
The growing prosperity of Athens in the eighth century BCE fostered the demand among citizens for greater political participation, setting the city on a course towards democracy. The progression continued with reforms by Cleisthenes and was solidified during the period of Pericles.
Step-by-step explanation:
It was likely the growing prosperity of Athenians in the eighth century BCE that set Athens on the path toward democracy. As prosperity increased, so did the desire of the citizens for more involvement in political decision-making. The creation of an assembly for citizen participation, allowing citizens (free adult males) to discuss affairs of the state, signifies the early steps taken towards democracy. The economic growth contributed to the rise of a class of people who were neither aristocrats nor from the traditional ruling elite, broadening the political landscape. Cleisthenes, an Athenian leader later in the late sixth century BCE, played an instrumental role in the founding of democracy in Athens by allowing all male citizens to vote and be eligible for public office. His reforms also included creating new tribes and legislating the random selection of lawmakers to mitigate factionalism.
By the seventh century BCE, this evolving structure became challenged by economic hardships, but the legal reforms of figures like Draco and later Solon, while not immediately solving these problems, laid important groundwork. Democracy in Athens would eventually flourish, especially following victories against Persia and during the time of Pericles, the Athenian leader who saw the state through its golden age, when Athens was at the forefront of culture, architecture, and democratic government.