‘民族’一词常在两种不同的含义上使用。一种用法是把‘民族’与一个具有内部凝聚力的民族国家的人民概念等同,如中华民族等用法;另一种用法是指一个国家内部的不同族群。本文所谓的‘民族法制’是在后一种含义上使用民族概念的。是指在中国这个多民族国家中处理内部各民族关系的法律制度及其动态的运作体制。综观改革开放30年,中国的民族法制建设 The term “nation” is often used in two different senses. One usage is to equate ’nation’ with the concept of a people in an internally cohesive nation-state, such as the usage of the Chinese nation; another usage refers to the different ethnic groups within a country. The so-called “national legal system” is to use the concept of nationality in the latter sense. It refers to the legal system and its dynamic operating system that deal with the inter-ethnic relations in China, a multi-ethnic country. Looking at the 30 years of reform and opening up, China’s national legal construction