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Politics & Government vocabulary · Policy and Public Debate

Reform

Meaning in politics & government, with examples

/rɪˈfɔːm/nounCore term

In politics & government, reform means: A change to a law, system or institution that is intended to improve it, such as changes to the tax, pension or education system.

In Turkish: reform, yeniden düzenleme

How it is used

Governments introduce, carry out, push through or block reforms, and there are economic, political, electoral and constitutional reforms. Reform is also a verb: reform the system. People who support reform are called reformers.

Example sentences

  1. The government plans a major reform of the pension system.

  2. Electoral reform was the main topic of the conference.

Common collocations

  • carry out reforms
  • pension reform
  • electoral reform
  • push through reforms
  • reform package
  • policyA plan or set of principles that a government, party or organization adopts to deal with a particular issue, such as education, housing or energy.
  • public policyThe decisions, plans and actions of government on issues that affect the public, such as health, education, transport and the environment; also the academic study of these.
  • legislationLaws in general, or a particular law or group of laws made by a parliament or other law-making body; also the process of making them.
  • U-turnA sudden and complete change in a government's or politician's policy or position, usually after criticism or pressure.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Policy and Public Debate

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