s to societal behavior (environmental stimuli) that seems to increasingly address individual, opposed to collective, ends.Many scholars believe that increased industrialization, coupled with technological advances that further alienate individuals from their society, are to blame for America’s increased individualism and the disintegration of civil society. This concern was elaborated by Alexis de Tocqueville in his seminal work Democracy in America, in which he emphasized the dangers inherent in increased individualism as a result of an increasingly industrialized capitalist system. This individualism, however, has helped to develop a nation of opportunity, wealth, prosperity, religious diversity, and ultimate nationalism through the strength of a collection of diverse individuals, struggling for a common goal – individual freedom and fulfillment. Given the grand intentions of individualism, what, then, has happened in American society that such flagrant claims of disintegration, such as Elshtain notes, have so permeated society? Human Needs and Political BehaviorAlthough not the first attempt at merging political behavior within the context of an essential element of nature, James Davies’ effort in Human Nature in Politics attempts to synthesize Artistotle’s human political “lifeform” with contemporary motivational behavior theory – specifically, Abraham Maslow’s development of an innate hierarchy of needs that directs an individuals motivations and behavior. Like Aristotle, Davies attempts to merge the dynamics of individual needs and environmental stimuli within an interwoven system. Adding to Aristotle’s suppositions, Davies incorporates what, in 1963, was new insight into human psychology and motivation – specifically, through development of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This combined view of man as a political lifeform within a framework that is both directed...
