Covid-19 and polarization in Brazil: The dynamics of state-level policies related to the pandemic

Abstract

The political scenario in Brazil has been increasingly polarized over the past three presidencies. In this context, the dispute over narratives about the pandemic of COVID-19 and the negationism of the president Jair Bolsonaro have hampered attempts to overcome the health crisis. The paper verifies how political preferences have affected state-level policies to face COVID-19 and finds that the variables related to partisanship (governor’s alignment with the president and Bolsonaro’s approval rate and share of votes in the 2018 election) have no significant effect on those policies. The actions of subnational units have been determined by local dynamics, specifically the death toll in the state and the possibility of governor’s reelection.