Information about the reforms being carried out in the country is constantly being reported from the media. Almost all of them are positioned as socially significant - aimed at improving the quality of life of citizens. However, the goals and meaning of the reforms are not always so straightforward.
Instructions
Step 1
Reform (from the Latin reformo - "change") is the transformation of state policy, institutional structure. The key difference between the reform and other forms of transformation of social, economic and political realities is non-violent methods.
Step 2
Thus, there are several links in the structure of the reform: first, an idea of the desired state of affairs in the future is necessary (in fact, this is also characteristic of the pre-revolutionary situation). Next, you need a realistic assessment of the current situation and a plan to implement the plans, taking into account the resistance of the situation. The reform is not implanted, but is gradually introduced into the socio-economic and political structure.
Step 3
This is the strict definition of reform - the softest way of introducing innovations into state reality. In fact, more often than not, reforms take place, but transformations. This brings us back to the question of the goals and purpose of the reforms. The transformation at the level of the state structure, ultimately, is aimed at strengthening the current government. In most situations, the method is to increase the loyalty of citizens. Then the reforms are socially oriented. However, history knows many cases when reforms, on the contrary, reduced the living standards of the population: for example, an increase in the retirement age, a reduction in social benefits, and a tightening of the tax burden.
Step 4
The most famous reforms in Russian history were: the reforms of Peter the Great (one of them was the creation of a public administration apparatus - the Collegiums, which later became Ministries), the Stolypin agrarian reform (aimed at solving the peasant problem and the development of agriculture at the beginning of the 20th century), a cycle reforms during the years of Perestroika (1986-1991). In the Russian political context of recent years, the term "reform" is often replaced by the concept of "modernization" (modernization), which is close in meaning. Skeptics tend to see this rhetoric as an attempt to hide the ineffectiveness of the measures being taken.
