Macroeconomic democracy: a systemic framework for democratic economic organization

This article develops a systemic framework for macroeconomic democracy as an analytically defined and analytically operational and empirically assessable property of economic organization. The need to introduce this concept arises from the fact that democracy is today frequently used in vague, simplified, or populist forms, while political and economic democracy are often analysed separately and in isolation, without sufficient attention to their mutual systemic interdependence. The aim of the article is therefore to conceptualize macroeconomic democracy as a variable that makes it possible to assess the overall level of democratic organization of society in an environment where economic processes play a decisive role. Macroeconomic democracy is defined as the degree to which economic positions are shaped by accountable decision-making and demonstrable contribution rather than by inherited privilege, concentrated ownership, or structurally insulated power. The concept is decomposed into interrelated dimensions, including capital ownership, income distribution, inheritance, democratic governance within firms, and the functioning of the market mechanism. The analysis is historically and institutionally grounded and does not rely on econometric estimation.