View source for Reform

{{Short description|Improvement of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory}}
{{Other uses}}
'''Reform''' refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc.<ref name="dictionary">{{cite web |title=Reform |publisher=Dictionary.com |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/reform?s=t |access-date=2023-02-16}}</ref> The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from [[Christopher Wyvill (reformer)|Christopher Wyvill]]'s [[Christopher Wyvill (reformer)#The Yorkshire Association|Association movement]], which identified "Parliamentary Reform" as its primary aim.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Burns |editor-first1=Arthur |editor-last2=Innes |editor-first2=Joanna |title=Rethinking the Age of Reform: Britain 1780–1850 |year=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |chapter='Reform' in English public life: the fortunes of a word |last=Innes |first=Joanna |chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/rethinking-the-age-of-reform/reform-in-english-public-life-the-fortunes-of-a-word/C091F0BFAFFF55B5D9112AC691182A83 |pages=71–97 |isbn=978-0521823944}}</ref> 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 [[foreign aid|aid agencies]]. This can involve reforms to [[macroeconomics|macroeconomic policy]], the [[civil service reform in developing countries|civil service]], and [[Public finance|public financial management]].

In politics, there is debate over what constitutes reform vs. revolution, and whether all changes labeled "reform" actually represent progress.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Gage |first=Beverly |title=When 'Reform' Means a Process of Elimination |date=February 13, 2018 |magazine=[[The New York Times Magazine]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/magazine/when-reform-means-a-process-of-elimination.html}}</ref> For example, in the [[United States]], proponents of [[term limits]] or [[rotation in office]] consider it a revolutionary method (advocated as early as the [[Articles of Confederation]]) for rooting out government corruption<ref>{{cite web |title=Term Limits: Overview |last1=Gutierrez |first1=Michael |last2=Walter |first2=Andrew |date=2024 |publisher=[[EBSCO Information Services|EBSCO]] |url=https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/law/term-limits-overview}}</ref> by altering basic political connections between incumbents and constituents.{{notetag|1=On term limits reform, see [https://www.termlimits.com/ 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.}} Opponents say that congressional term limits can create perverse incentives, and hinder reform, by taking power away from voters and encouraging "[[Revolving door (politics)|revolving door]]" politics.<ref>{{cite web |last=Burgat |first=Casey |title=Five reasons to oppose congressional term limits |url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/five-reasons-to-oppose-congressional-term-limits/ |date=January 18, 2018 |publisher=[[Brookings Institution|Brookings]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Fowler |first=Anthony |title=Term Limits |publisher=University of Chicago{{Snd}}Center for Effective Government |date=January 25, 2024 |url=https://effectivegov.uchicago.edu/primers/term-limits}}</ref>

A government's ability to implement reforms, referred to as its [[state capacity]], is constrained by the prevailing political system.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lindvall |first=Johannes |title=Reform Capacity |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2017 |pages=120-121 |isbn=978-0198766865}}</ref>

==Re-form==
When used to describe something which is physically formed again, such as re-[[casting]] ([[molding (process)|moulding]]) or a [[band (music)|band]] that gets back together, the proper term is ''re-form'' (with a [[hyphen]]), not "reform".<ref>{{cite web |title=RE-FORM definition in American English |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/re-form |publisher=Collins English Dictionary |access-date=June 5, 2025}}</ref>

== 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==
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==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Wiktionary}}
*{{Commonscatinline|Reform|}}
* Harrington, Mona. ''The Dream of Deliverance in American Politics''. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1986. x, 308 p. {{ISBN|0-394-54973-2}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Reform| ]]
[[Category:18th-century neologisms]]