相較於其他第三波民主化的國家，臺灣的民主化必須防止族群動員的糾葛，尤其是當族群認同與政黨認同、國家認同、以及國家定位相互強化的情況。因此，多元族群現象在政治場域的競逐，一直令人擔心是否會危及我們多年來的民主化努力。我們回溯臺灣的政治發展過程，族群運動逐漸在多軸線呈現，除了戰後以來的省籍齟齬，自從1980年代開始，原住民族權利運動、以及客家族群的還我母語運動蔚然而起，切割了原本二元對立的族群結構。自從民進黨在2000年上臺以來，政府大體接受原住民族運動的訴求，不過，在政策執行層面則稍有裹足不前；客家族群的關鍵要求是把客家話列為國家語言，以確保自己的集體認同；相較於本省籍的三個族群，外省族群有較濃厚的中國認同，不過，癥結應該是彼此未能真正取得歷史和解。我們建議，把族群關係的規範放入研議中的臺灣新憲，將少數族群權利的保障加以制度化，或許有可能凝聚嶄新的臺灣國家認同。

Compared with other countries in the third wave of democratization, Taiwan has been weary of ceaseless tides of ethnic mobilization, where ethnic identities tend to be coterminous with party identifications, national identities, and the issue of Taiwan’s independence versus unification with China. It is thus a concern whether ethnic competition in the political arena may jeopardize what has been accomplished on the road to democratic consolidation. Recalling the process of political development in Taiwan, ethnic movements have evolved from a binary rivalry between the Mainlanders and the native Taiwanese to a multi-dimensional configuration as the Indigenous Rights Movement and the Hakka Language Rights Movement emerged in the 1980s. Since the Democratic Progressive Party came to power in 2000, the government has largely incorporated the appeals of the indigenous peoples and those of the Hakka people. Nonetheless, the disputes between the Mainlanders and the natives have not yet been alleviated, owing to a lack of genuine historical reconciliation. We suggest that a chapter on ethnic relations be added to the Taiwan Constitution in the making, so that a new Taiwanese national identity may be forged.