Does civil society in the US maintain an independent role to play in American politics? One of the more remarkable happenings of 2016 was the white evangelical embrace of Donald Trump - twice divorced, obviously ignorant about religion, certainly not evangelical, formerly supportive of abortion rights and gay rights, and downright crude. This made for a (painfully) banner time to study religion and politics in the United States and I was there to crunch the numbers. Were evangelicals just holding their nose to support anyone but Hillary? Why did the #NeverTrump movement fail to pan out? Were evangelical clergy platoon leaders helping to mobilize the faithful? The answers to these specific questions help us address much larger concerns about US democratic health: Is religion still an influential force on individuals? Does civil society in the US maintain an independent role to play in American politics? From the Tuesday Lunch lecture series