Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which identified "Parliamentary Reform" as its primary aim. Reform is generally regarded as antithetical to revolution.
Developing countries may implement a range of reforms to improve living standards, often with support from international financial institutions and aid agencies. This can involve reforms to macroeconomic policy, the civil service, and public financial management.
In politics, there is debate over what constitutes reform vs. revolution, and whether all changes labeled "reform" actually represent progress. For example, in the U.S., proponents of term limits or rotation in office consider it a revolutionary means (dating back to the Articles of Confederation) of rooting out government corruption by altering basic political connections between incumbents and constituents. Opponents say that congressional term limits could create perverse incentives, and hinder reform, by taking power away from voters and encouraging "revolving door" politics.
A government's ability to implement reforms, referred to as its state capacity, is constrained by the prevailing political system.
Re-form
When used to describe something which is physically formed again, such as re-casting (moulding) or a band that gets back together, the proper term is re-form (with a hyphen), not "reform".9
See also
- Catalytic reforming
- Education reform
- Electoral reform
- Land reform
- Microeconomic reform
- Monetary reform
- Progressivism
- Reform (Religion)
- Reform movement
- La Reforma
- Reformism
- Security sector governance and reform
- Tax reform
- University reform
- Wall Street reform
Notes
Further reading
Wikiquote has quotations related to Reform. Look up reform in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.- Media related to Reform at Wikimedia Commons
- Harrington, Mona. The Dream of Deliverance in American Politics. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1986. x, 308 p. ISBN 0-394-54973-2
References
"Reform". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2023-02-16. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/reform?s=t ↩
Innes, Joanna (2003). "'Reform' in English public life: the fortunes of a word". In Burns, Arthur; Innes, Joanna (eds.). Rethinking the Age of Reform: Britain 1780–1850. Cambridge University Press. pp. 71–97. ISBN 978-0521823944. 978-0521823944 ↩
Gage, Beverly (February 13, 2018). "When 'Reform' Means a Process of Elimination". The New York Times Magazine. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/magazine/when-reform-means-a-process-of-elimination.html ↩
Gutierrez, Michael; Walter, Andrew (2024). "Term Limits: Overview". EBSCO. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/law/term-limits-overview ↩
On term limits reform, see U.S. Term Limits. On more radical/revolutionary changes, including term limits, see, e.g., Robert Struble Jr., Treatise on Twelve Lights: To Restore America the Beautiful under God and the Written Constitution, 2007–08 edition. https://www.termlimits.com/ ↩
Burgat, Casey (January 18, 2018). "Five reasons to oppose congressional term limits". Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/five-reasons-to-oppose-congressional-term-limits/ ↩
Fowler, Anthony (January 25, 2024). "Term Limits". University of Chicago – Center for Effective Government. https://effectivegov.uchicago.edu/primers/term-limits ↩
Lindvall, Johannes (2017). Reform Capacity. Oxford University Press. pp. 120–121. ISBN 978-0198766865. 978-0198766865 ↩
"RE-FORM definition in American English". Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved June 5, 2025. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/re-form ↩