Why did 81 percent of evangelicals vote for Donald Trump? Is that number even accurate? (Justin Taylor says it was “probably less than half.” Joe Carter says “somewhere between 35 percent and 45 percent.”)

As a reporter who covers religion—specifically evangelicalism—I’ve heard this question asked a lot. No answer quite seemed to fit. Was it the abortion issue? General conservatism? Christian nationalism? Opposition to Hillary Clinton?

In his new book, Timothy P. Carney takes a step back from the 2016 general election to the Republican primaries, and there finds a significant piece of the puzzle—social capital.

In communities with a lot of strong families, schools, churches, and clubs, he found economic and social mobility—the American dream. But in much of America where Trump was initially most popular, such dreams of community cohesion had been dashed.

“Churches in particular have declined in many places where Trump thrived in the 2016 primary,” writes TGC editorial director Collin Hansen in his review of Carney’s book. “[Y]ou can find the communities where the American dream is dead by looking for vacant church buildings.”

But that isn’t a reason for despair, Hansen says. In this week’s featured article, he considers Carney’s proposals for how churches play a key role in reviving America.