cludes “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 characteristic of that aspect of human behavior which is called politics” (Davies, 1963: 65). It is essentially the state in which one force opposes another – this state occurs both in human nature, as well as in society. “The very nature of policy decisions in a society makes for a state of anxiety. The very issues that are up for public consideration and decision are those which are most difficult to make because the source of the difficulty is uncertain and the solution for it is even more so” (Davies, 1963: 68). Summarizing Maslow’s hierarchy within this view, Davies (1963: 70) expresses the basic framework within which individual political motivation and behavior may be analyzed:“People pursue the relief of tension in order to satisfy the basic needs (physical, social, self-esteem, and self-actualization needs). When they have satisfied one need or have become secure in the ability to satisfy that need, they are ready to pursue another one, reverting to concern with that prior need only when it is itself threatened.”Maslow’s hierarchy, combined with Davies’ element of “tension,” form a synthesis between individual needs and desires reactions to environmental stimuli that individuals perceive as helping or hindering their attempts to fulfill these desires. Tension is an important element of this synthesis and it is, as Davies points out, at the very he...
