The extended Maslowian model as a framework for political inquiry

The appropriate conceptual view of man for political inquiry has received less attention in recent years than appears necessary if a reconciliation between the behavior- alist and the humanist persuasions in the discipline of political science is to be developed. A conceptualization of man based upon Abraham H. Maslow's theory of individual personality, elaborated to take social and political phenomena into account, is offered as a conceptual framework which incorporates the concerns and objectives of both these persuasions, An assessment of the present empirical veracity of key aspects of the Maslowian model is presented, as is an exploration of the usefulness of the Maslowian perspective for addressing several current research problems in political science. It is concluded that the empirical status of the Maslowian model of man has yet to be adequately established, although it provides a promising area for further investigation, The model's immediate value for the construction of a normative system for political decision-making is also discussed.