Apprehending Politics: News Media and Individual Political Development. By Marco Calavita. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2005. 285p. $81.50 cloth, $27.95 paper.

Marco Calavita conducted extensive interviews with 15 “Generation X” Americans in order to understand their political ideas and how contextual factors (particularly the news media) influenced these thoughts, feelings, and actions. He wisely prefers the term “individual political development” (p. 6) to “political socialization” because he finds it truer to the complex, dynamic, lifelong experience. He is particularly interested in exploring the role that the news media play in attitude formation, stability, and change.