In Italy, too, partial reform was a likely culprit.

ECONOMIST: Why do the lights keep going out?

Mario Segni, who oversaw two successful referendums paving the way to partial electoral reform in the early 1990s, blamed Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the main opposition on the right, for being too tepid in support of change.

ECONOMIST: Italy��s reformers thwarted

The government has made inroads into some of Poland's worst problems, notably with a tough, if partial, pension reform.

ECONOMIST: Poland's strong economy

King Abdullah II has begun some economic reform, including partial privatization of some state-owned firms, which has begun to show results.

FORBES: Partner In Progress

The reform remains only partial.

ECONOMIST: Urbanisation

Certain GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney led the Republican counterattack, accusing President Barack Obama of undermining the possibility of long-term immigration reform by taking the partial step of halting deportations of some young illegal immigrants who came to America as children.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS