ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY: A FRAMEWORK FOR A MORE EQUITABLE FUTURE
SEPTEMBER 2023
By Shelly Steward, PhD, Aspen Institute for Economic Opportunity Funders
The US economy and democracy are in crisis. Our economic system based on free market strategies has created a legacy of underinvestment, corporate consolidation, and massive concentrations of wealth resulting in widespread economic insecurity, limited opportunities for small businesses, persistent racial wealth and wage gaps, and record income inequality — especially for workers and families of color. Vast disparities in economic power have also been translated into vast disparities in political power, and public policies that no longer serve the public.
This brief aims to provide a shared understanding of the framework of economic democracy. It begins by providing context on current economic and democratic crises and laying out the framework of economic democracy as a means of addressing them. It then introduces three areas of focus that solve for the challenges we face: expanding public options of goods and services, building power for workers and communities through shared ownership and co-governance, and rightsizing corporate power.
This brief was created as part of the EOF 2023 Fall Funder Series: A Vision For Economic Democracy.