This paper investigates the effect of the COVID-19 and oil prices on the US partisan conflict. Using daily data on world COVID-19 and oil prices, monthly data on the US Partisan Conflict index, and the MIDAS method, the finding suggests that both COVID-19 and oil prices mitigate US political polarization. The finding implies that political leaders aim low for partisan gains during stressful times.
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Apergis et al. (2020) studied this question.