The roots of democracy in Greece and the wider Balkan area differ from those of other countries in southeastern Europe. The quick pace of change in socio-economic relations during the inter-war period created different attitudes towards democracy and parliamentarism.
The Second Hellenic Republic, the principal institutional of the period, grew from the dynamics of the radical processes that were taking place in the political landscape after the Catastrophe. The political instability of the years 1923-24, together with the new social cross-section (the influx of refugees with anti-Royalist tendencies altered the status quo), put into action the mechanisms (plebiscite) that led to a constitutional change. Instability remained a structural characteristic of this period, albeit in a different form, comprising pressing social claims and social clashes. The adoption in parliament of the 'Idionym' law signalled the beginning of practices that left their indelible mark on the public life of the country.