研讀（究）計畫書

American Identity in the Light of Christian Covenants

The Taiwanese ethnic groups have been claiming separate national identity since the 2004 Presidential election campaign. Taiwanese identity indeed calls for an elaborate deliberation of local political scientists. And comparatively speaking, American identity makes a stark contrast to Taiwanese one. Just as Samuel P. Huntington, an internationally well-known political scientist points out in his American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony, “The Americans are a political people. The Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, the constitutions of the states and the Constitution of 1787 explain their national existence” (Huntington, 24). This identification of nationality with political creed or value makes the Americans unique. They have still had only one Constitution and one system of government based on one set of political ideas. However, the white Anglo-Saxon Protestants still constitute not only the premier but the largest ethnic entity on the American scene. American immigrants can conceivably become Americans by being fully assimilated into their culture and community (Huntington, 26-27). Inspired by Huntington’s statement, I intend to interpret American identity in terms of Protestants’ belief, that is, Christian Covenants.

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