counterreforms
Undoing previous changes
Counterreforms are reforms enacted in opposition to previous reforms, typically seeking to reverse or undo their effects.
The term often appears in discussions of political backlash: The new administration's counterreforms dismantled environmental protections.
Historically associated with the Catholic Counter-Reformation's response to Protestant reforms, though the lowercase term applies to any reactionary reform movement.
Returning something to condition
- retrenchmentReduction of expenditures
- traditionalismAdherence to inherited customs
- conservatismPreference for existing institutions
- reactionaryAnti-progress political stance
rollback · reversal · orthodoxy · establishment · authoritarianism · centralization · suppression · censorship
Annul a statute
- rescindFormally cancel or withdraw
- annulDeclare legally void
- overturnReverse or invalidate
- revokeOfficially cancel authorization
abrogate · nullify · undo · retract · abolish · invalidate · cancel · void
Strong negative reaction
- oppositionActive resistance or dissent
- reactionResponse to stimulus
- pushbackResistance to something proposed
- counterrevolutionReversal of political upheaval
repression · crackdown · persecution · intolerance · prohibition · restriction · curtailment · clampdown
restoration
Returning something to condition
- retrenchmentReduction of expenditures
- traditionalismAdherence to inherited customs
- conservatismPreference for existing institutions
reactionary · rollback · reversal · orthodoxy · establishment · authoritarianism · centralization · suppression · censorship · inquisition
repeal
Annul a statute
revoke · abrogate · nullify · undo · retract · abolish · invalidate · cancel · void · withdraw
backlash
Strong negative reaction
- oppositionActive resistance or dissent
- reactionResponse to stimulus
- pushbackResistance to something proposed
counterrevolution · repression · crackdown · persecution · intolerance · prohibition · restriction · curtailment · clampdown · coercion
counterreformsreforms
Corrective institutional changes
liberalization · democratization · modernization · improvements · forward progress
counterreformsgrassroots movements
Citizen-led collective action
labor reforms · land reforms · perestroika · glasnost · New Deal
counterreformsrevolution
Violent governmental overthrow
revolutionary change · radical reform · transformation · upheaval · overthrow