r destruction, of individual human motivation and fulfillment of these individual needs.An Individual/Environmental Synthesis Approach to Political Behavior In Human Nature in Politics (1963) Davies utilizes Maslows basic propositions and needs hierarchy with a few minor adjustments. First, recognizing that few, if any, Americans have experienced the severe deprivation of basic physical needs Maslows first hierarchy of need (e.g., water, food, air) Davies postulates that this need is actually a foundational requirement for all remaining needs. In other words, because Americans, on the whole, can expect to obtain these first level needs automatically and generally are not inclined to worry about whether or not there will be sufficient water to drink or even, for most, food to eat, this should form part of the fundamental foundation of all higher needs. He adds to this argument by pointing out that for those severely lacking such basic needs, consideration of higher level needs within the context of public policy and political behavior and decision-making is a highly ridiculous proposition. Davies (1963: 160) notes, To assume that ordinary or extraordinary persons in such a hungry condition can in any way concern themselves with matters of public policy is to assume a kind of madness that prefers order, justice, and individual responsibility therefore to survival itself. Second, Davies adds the element of tension to the hierarchy. This tension, as Davies utilizes the term, includes insecurity, anxiety, and frustration, but it includes both the disagreeable and the agreeable sensations of wanting (Davies, 1963: 64). Davies explains that tension exists between the want of a need, and the activity of acquiring the need. Individuals feel tension when attempting to acquire a need, and although acquiring the need may not diffuse the tension completely, tension is a characteristic of human life and of human behavior, and it is a char...
