隨著臺灣政治由威權統治轉型為民主政治，臺灣的族群關係也進入不同的階段。在 威權時期，族群緊張來自外省族群在政治上的宰制，以及對本土文化的壓制。源自政治的族 群緊張同時也滲透入社會領域，造成本當人和外省人的社會隔離。民主化之後，政治宰制雖 然不再，卻由於認同的興起和對立，族群關係進入另一個階段。本文以全國性的訪問調查資 料為基礎指出：第一，雖然在母語的使用上臺灣漢人有三個族群，可是在族群政治上只有兩 個族群；本省人（閩南和客家）和外省人。第二，威權時期中國政治而來的族群社會隔離， 經過數十年的相處以及民主化之後，已大為消弭，甚至不復存在。第三，然而，由於臺灣認 同的興起，本省人對外省人存有普遍的不信任感。樣本中將近半數的本省人認為外省人不夠 認同臺灣。這種政治上的不信任，長目前臺灣族群政治的核心問題。第四，此種政治上的不 信任並沒有因社會關係的融合而消弭。「社會交融、政治隔離」是目前臺灣族群政治的本質。

　　　　　The ethnic relations in Taiwan entered a new stage, as the country moved toward liberal democracy in the late 1980's. The authoritarian regime of the Kuomintang was marked by political domination by a minority group of Chinese mainlanders, whose repression of native Taiwanese local culture created political tensions and social animosity between two groups. As the transition to democracy broke down the minority's political domination, a new Taiwanese identity was also created along the process. The conflict between native Taiwanese and Chinese mainlanders upholding different identities continues to serve as the center of ethnic politics is concerned, there are only two ethnic groups in Taiwan—native Taiwanese (including Minnan and Hokka) and Chinese mainlanders, as opposed to commonly held assertion of three ethnic groups with their own languages/dialects; b)due to the political change and social development in the past five decades, the social animosity and segregation between two groups have been greatly decreased; c)the rise of new /Taiwanese identity and its conflict with the Chinese one has resulted in a widespread sense of distrust among native Taiwanese; and d)social contact (measured in terms of inter-marriage) between members of different ethnic groups has not decreased the political distrust. It appears that a combination of social assimilation and political tension best describes the nature of ethnic relations in current Taiwan.