REFORMISM. – Reformism is neither a theory nor does it rest upon a particular ideology, but is a practical attitude concerning the method to be followed in promoting the progress of social institutions. In opposition to revolutionary tendencies, which consider the existing order outdated or bad in all its elements and therefore set out to overthrow it by violence in order to create one entirely different, reformism regards it as essentially good, although defective in several respects, and consequently aims to bring about its improvement through gradual and methodical reforms. Taken in this sense, it is an attitude coeval with the human spirit, which, in its moderate currents, shuns the extremes of narrow conservatism and subversive revolutionism. It may therefore refer to any social institution within which the desire for progress and the will to correct its defects lead to the promotion of structural reforms, while allowing whatever good it contains to remain. There have, for example, been vigorous reformist currents within the Church itself, particularly in periods of disciplinary decline or decline in ecclesiastical morality, such as those that spread from Cluny and the movement that opposed the Protestant “Reformation,” which under Paul III led to the convocation of the Council of Trent.
Nevertheless, from the nineteenth century onward reformism acquired a distinctly political meaning. Historically, the ideological and social movement Enlightenment (v.) may be considered reformist, since it greatly influenced the spiritual and practical attitude of the eighteenth century. The proclamation and dissemination of the so-called reforming principles did indeed unleash one of the greatest revolutions in world history; nevertheless, except in the religious sphere, their application did not completely subvert the social order, since both the declaration of the rights of man and the subsequent republican constitution preserved, albeit on a rationalistic and agnostic basis, the fundamental rights of the individual, including the right of property. The revolutionary currents attacked this order, partly old and partly new.
The century of reformism was the nineteenth century. Bentham introduced the term into political science, and from then on the moderate currents of the most diverse political tendencies were called reformist. During the Italian Risorgimento, the Neo-Guelphs and Gioberti were of this kind; Gioberti gave reformism a historicized basis, while, at the opposite pole, the radicals and the Mazzinians took their stand with a revolutionary attitude. The tendency also entered socialism, producing the division between revolutionary communism, to which the most ardent currents and those most faithful to the principles of pure Marxism remained attached, and reformist socialism, which rejected the use of violence. The struggle between the two tendencies had repercussions not only on domestic politics but also externally, in the various Internationals (v. INTERNAZIONALE). History therefore shows that reformism is tied to no particular ideology, but may penetrate all of them without distinction, either as a moderating element or as a driving principle. It is moderating in currents with a revolutionary tendency; it becomes a driving force in conservative ones.
The Church’s attitude toward the social question could very well be defined as reformist, although the term is not used. Indeed, it recognizes that the existing social order is not perfect and therefore needs profound innovations to make it better suited to the demands of modern life, through the creation of new institutions and the adoption of more appropriate measures, particularly with regard to the organization and remuneration of labor and the more rational distribution of property, in order to mitigate social disparities as far as possible. Nevertheless, it holds that the desired improvements must not be achieved through revolution, but through a sound and progressive evolution. An authoritative expression of this attitude is found in the teaching of Pius XII in his address to workers of 13 June 1943: “Not in revolution, but in harmonious evolution, lie salvation and justice.”
