Final answer:
Historical reforms fail for various reasons, including intense opposition and political maneuvering, as seen in the liberal revolutions of 1848 and the healthcare bill of the 1990s. These failures often result in changes to the goals and methods of the reforms rather than their complete abandonment.
Step-by-step explanation:
The reasons behind the failure of certain reforms are complex and multifaceted. In a historical context, one view suggests that the liberal revolutions of 1848, which aimed to establish liberal republics and in some cases facilitate socialist dreams, were unable to create immediate change and were countered by conservatism. However, this did not mean a complete failure, as the definition of conservatism and its methods were inevitably changed by the revolutionary attempts.
Another instance where reform failed, such as the healthcare bill in the 1990s, points to a lack of support on both the liberal and conservative sides and strategic political maneuvers like the Contract with America. In this scenario, the reform attempt was overshadowed by a subsequent conservative turn in Congress leading to the implementation of different policies, such as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. These examples demonstrate that reforms often face intense opposition from varying interests and that setbacks in initial goals may not represent total failure but rather a modification of the goals and the means used to achieve them.