reformist

Other forms: reformists

In politics, someone who believes that a government or economy should be improved through gradual changes is a reformist.

Reformists tend to focus on working within existing systems and pushing through small changes over time, even if they believe those systems need major repair and reform. In politics, they are often compared with revolutionaries, who advocate for completely overhauling broken governments or societies and replacing them with something new. The Latin root of reformist is reformare, "to form again."

Definitions of reformist

1. noun

   a person or group who pushes to improve an institution or system by changing it
   synonyms: crusader, meliorist, reformer, social reformer

   examples:

   Anthony Comstock

   United States reformer who led moral crusades against art and literature that he considered obscene (1844-1915)

   Dorothea Lynde Dix

   United States social reformer who pioneered in the reform of prisons and in the treatment of the mentally ill; superintended women army nurses during the American Civil War (1802-1887)

   John Huss

   Czechoslovakian religious reformer who anticipated the Reformation; he questioned the infallibility of the Catholic Church was excommunicated (1409) for attacking the corruption of the clergy; he was burned at the stake (1372-1415)

   Robert Owen

   Welsh industrialist and social reformer who founded cooperative communities (1771-1858)

   Girolamo Savonarola

   Italian religious and political reformer; a Dominican friar in Florence who preached against sin and corruption and gained a large following; he expelled the Medici from Florence but was later excommunicated and executed for criticizing the Pope (1452-1498)

   Francis Everett Townsend

   United States social reformer who proposed an old-age pension sponsored by the federal government; his plan was a precursor to Social Security (1867-1960)

   John Wilkes

   English reformer who published attacks on George III and supported the rights of the American colonists (1727-1797)

   types:

   abolitionist, emancipationist

   a reformer who favors abolishing slavery

   birth-control campaigner, birth-control reformer

   a social reformer who advocates birth control and family planning

   Chartist

   a 19th century English reformer who advocated better social and economic conditions for working people

   civil rights activist, civil rights leader, civil rights worker

   a leader of the political movement dedicated to securing equal opportunity for members of minority groups

   demonstrator, protester

   someone who participates in a public display of group feeling

   dry, prohibitionist

   a reformer who opposes the use of intoxicating beverages

   conservationist, environmentalist

   someone who works to protect the environment from destruction or pollution

   feminist, libber, women's liberationist, women's rightist

   a supporter of feminism

   flower child, hippie, hippy, hipster

   someone who rejects the established culture; advocates extreme liberalism in politics and lifestyle

   freedom fighter, insurgent, insurrectionist, rebel

   a person who takes part in an armed rebellion against the constituted authority (especially in the hope of improving conditions)

   activist, militant

   a reformer who works to achieve social or political change

   non-resistant, passive resister

   a reformer who believes in passive resistance

   preservationist

   someone who advocates the preservation of historical sites or endangered species or natural areas

   Utopian

   an idealistic (but usually impractical) social reformer

   Black Muslim

   an activist member of a largely American group of Blacks called the Nation of Islam

   Black Panther

   a member of the Black Panthers political party

   counterdemonstrator

   someone who demonstrates in opposition to another demonstration

   Green

   an environmentalist who belongs to the Green Party

   freedom rider

   one of an interracial group of civil rights activists who rode buses through parts of the South in order to protest racial segregation

   mutineer

   someone who is openly rebellious and refuses to obey authorities (especially seamen or soldiers)

   picket

   a protester posted by a labor organization outside a place of work

   suffragette

   a woman advocate of women's right to vote (especially a militant advocate in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the 20th century)

   tree hugger

   derogatory term for environmentalists who support restrictions on the logging industry and the preservation of forests

   Young Turk

   a member of one or more of the insurgent groups in Turkey in the late 19th century who rebelled against the absolutism of Ottoman rule

   type of:

   controversialist, disputant, eristic

   a person who disputes; who is good at or enjoys controversy
2. adjective

   favoring or promoting change, often by government action
   synonyms: progressive, reform-minded

   liberal

   tolerant of change; not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or tradition