The question about the existence of macroscopic models for gyrotropy in inhomogeneous materials is examined. We have carried out a detailed polarimetric study on a short-pitch chiral-smectic-C liquid crystal, which has been taken as an example of an inhomogeneous optical medium. In accordance to the theoretical predictions, we have found that, as a first approximation, the inhomogeneous liquid crystal can be modeled as a homogeneous uniaxial medium with huge optical activity in a direction perpendicular to the optic axis. However, some deviations have been determined in the precise values of the optical activity predicted by the theory. These discrepancies have been attributed to higher-order gyration-like effects, which are usually negligible and have not been considered in previous theoretical approaches. The agreement improves when these higher-order effects are incorporated. In the light of the above results, the theory is applied to the case of incommensurate structures. The origin of gyrotropy in these materials is clarified, and it is shown that this quantity can be described by a usual macroscopic tensor. If the incommensurate structure has an inversion center we deduce that all gyration effects rigorously vanish, contrary to the opinion maintained by several authors.