Liberalization

In general, liberalization (or liberalisation) refers to a relaxation of government restrictions, usually in such areas of social, political and economic policy. In some contexts, this process or concept is often, but not always, referred to as deregulation. Liberalization of autocratic regimes may precede democratization (or not, as in the case of the Prague Spring).

In law

In social policy, liberalization may refer to a relaxation of laws restricting, for example, divorce, abortion, or psychoactive drugs. Regarding civil rights, it may refer to the elimination of laws prohibiting homosexuality, same-sex marriage, inter-racial marriage, or inter-faith marriage.

In economy and trade

Privatization may have several meanings. Its main meaning is the process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency, public service or public property from the public sector to the private sector. It may also mean government outsourcing of services or functions to private firms, e.g. revenue collection, law enforcement, and prison management. Privatization has also been used to describe the buying of all outstanding shares of a publicly traded company by a single entity, making the company privately owned, or the demutualization of a mutual organization or cooperative to form a joint-stock company.