LAUSR

Significance There is widespread concern that elections polarize societies along group lines. Meanwhile, enmity between religious communities is rising globally—a phenomenon often attributed to the dynamics of electoral competition. I examine one implication of this broader hypothesis by testing for the presence of electoral cycles in religious intolerance. Pooling responses from 1,086 country-level “values and attitudes” surveys, I evaluate whether people interviewed shortly before or after national elections are more likely to express intolerant attitudes toward those belonging to different religions or sects than people interviewed outside of election seasons. I find no statistical evidence that this is the case, either overall or among theoretically relevant subpopulations. Individuals interviewed close to elections also do not voice greater distrust in other people generally.