National Identity as an Object of Analysis in Contemporary Political Science: A Theoretical Framework and a Case Study of The Republic of Moldova

Abstract

This article proposes a theoretical framework for studying national identity as an object of research in contemporary political science. It clarifies the distinction between ethnicity and nation, reviews the main explanatory paradigms concerning the formation of national identities—primordialism, modernism/constructivism, and ethno-symbolism—and examines several related analytical tools, including the civic–ethnic nationalism dichotomy, the concept of “invented tradition,” and the generational identity-revival hypothesis known as the “Hansen effect.” The framework is subsequently applied to a specific case study: the Republic of Moldova. These analytical tools make it possible to assess the hypothesis that Moldovans and Romanians constitute the same ethnic group, while the “Moldovan” national identity was an institutional construction of Soviet origin that is currently undergoing a process of reconfiguration. The conclusions show that the hypothesis is confirmed at the conceptual, explanatory, and institutional levels. It is qualified, however, by the persistence of “Moldovan” ethnic self-identification and by the distinct trajectory of the Gagauz community. The possibility that a European civic identity may emerge remains an open question.