한국헌법상 경제민주화의 의미

In section 2 of article 119, Korean Constitutional Law empowers the government to regulate economy for its democratization, which can be achieved by harmony among the economic agents. However, this clause has been a dead letter until now. Due to the recent failure of Lee Myung-bak administration, certain changes in the political atmosphere were intrigued ― now the ruling party itself and most opposition parties are all volunteering to champion the ‘economic democratization’. But, the problem of economic democratization is not only of political matter, it certainly needs to be examined academically. Certain points are worth reviewing. The economic democratization is confined within the boundaries of the social market economy, within the Constitutional system. Existing studies have considered the social market economy only as a partial complement to market system. But as the market and the economy are not one and same, as the market is neither complete nor natural, the market needs to be located in the social context further than it used to be. The economic democratization can be achieved not only by the control of government over the market, but also by different kinds of economic democratization policies. There is no fixed form of such policies, so this thesis suggests certain cases of such (role of state as arbitrator, people’s participation in public fund, social enterprise and corporate democracy). When substantive discourses on the subject take place, such policies and their realizations enforcement could be diversified. To conclude, the economic democratization does not mean government regulations over economy only, but means formation of the structure where different economic agents, along with the people, can participate more also. For such purpose, the balance among basic rights(such as ownership), the market economy, and governmental/social regulations is very important.