Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, California

Who Runs the States

Main Report Pages

Main Page • Part 1 • Partisanship Infographic • Part 2 • Part 3

Partisanship Results Report (Part 1)

Executive Summary • State Partisanship Analysis • Partisan Control of Governorships • Partisan Control of State Legislatures • Partisan Control of State Senates • Partisan Control of State Houses • State Government Trifectas • Overall Partisan Control: Bright, Medium and Soft States • Changes of Partisan Domination over 22 years • Year-to-Year Changes in State Partisan Control • Trifectas and Presidential Election Patterns • Conclusion • Methodology • Appendix A • Appendix B

State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Report (Part 2)

Executive Summary • State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) • About the Index • Overall Rankings • Dramatic Changes from 1st Half to 2nd Half • Individual Indicators • Methodology • Appendices

Partisanship and (SQLI) Overlay Report (Part 3)

Introduction • Comparing Partisanship and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Rankings • Description of the data • Trends and correlations • Methodology • Key Values for Fifty-State Regressions • Appendices

Praise or blame is extended to political parties for the economic, educational, health and other quality of life outcomes that result from the policies those parties enact into law. To better understand which political party enjoys power in each of the states, Ballotpedia has analyzed state government control from 1992-2013 using the concept of a "partisan trifecta." A partisan trifecta is defined as when a state's governorship and legislative chambers are controlled by the same political party.

The two major political parties claim that their policies will lead to better outcomes. What does the data show?

At Ballotpedia, we explored these issues in a three-part study, Who Runs the States.

This page takes a specific look at how California performed in the study.

Background about the study

See also: Ballotpedia: Who Runs the States

Part One examines the partisanship of state government from 1992 to 2013. Part Two establishes a State Quality of Life Index (SQLI), aggregating a variety of existing state indices into one measurement. Part Three will overlay the two reports, looking for trends and correlations.

Part 1: Partisanship analysis

California Governor

From 1992 to 2013, there were Democratic governors in office for eight years while there were Republican governors in office for 14 years. During the final three years of the study, California was under Democratic trifectas.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

California Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the California State Senate for all 22 years. The California State Senate is one of 16 state senates that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013.

Across the country, there were 541 Democratic and 517 Republican state senates from 1992 to 2013.

California State Assembly

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the California State House of Representatives for all 22 years. The California Assembly is one of 18 state houses that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992 to 2013. During the final three years of the study, California was under Democratic trifectas.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican state houses of representatives from 1992 to 2013.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of California, the California State Senate and the California House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

Partisan control changes

There were three partisan control changes in California during the study period. The average number of changes in the 50 states was four, putting California slightly lower than the average.

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

California’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 35.81, which puts it at 40th in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The years that California had the highest ranking were 1998 and 1999, in which it ranked 28th.
• The year that California had the lowest ranking was 2012, in which it ranked 48th.
• The index types that California had the highest ranking in were Government employment as a percentage of population and Real GDP per capita, in which it ranked 9th.
• The index type that California had the lowest ranking in was State credit rating, in which it ranked 50th.

California SQLI 1992-2012
Index	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
24/7 Wall St Best/Worst Governed States	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	49	50	50
America's Health Rankings	23	25	28	26	24	22	22	22	19	20	19	18	18	18	21	22	24	23	26	22	22
CAFR Debt/GDP	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	29	26	27	27	30	35	35	N/A
Chief Executive Magazine Best and Worst States for Business Survey	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	50
CNBC Top States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	28	25	32	32	32	40
Forbes Best States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	36	34	40	38	39	39	41
Govt. Employment Share Population	11	10	10	8	7	7	5	6	8	9	11	9	7	9	10	11	10	9	7	7	6
Graduation Rate	42	42	41	40	40	39	37	35	34	33	30	31	32	33	32	32	33	40	38	39	42
Personal Income Per Capita	10	11	13	12	13	12	9	8	8	8	9	10	8	9	7	8	12	12	16	17	15
Poverty Rate	38	42	44	42	42	45	43	40	39	33	34	37	34	35	33	31	41	36	35	41	N/A
Real GDP per capita	11	13	14	13	13	17	17	12	11	12	12	12	10	8	8	8	8	10	11	11	N/A
S&P Credit Rating	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	46	47	49	49	48	49	49	49	50	50	50	50
State Govt. Spending/GDP	25	33	33	22	23	22	21	22	22	27	27	32	27	27	26	25	27	25	23	29	N/A
State & local tax burden	39	38	35	37	40	40	40	42	44	43	43	43	44	42	43	47	47	46	47	N/A	N/A
Tax Freedom Day	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	39
Unemployment Rate	49	49	49	49	47	46	47	44	43	43	46	46	43	36	39	44	48	47	48	49	49
Unfunded Pension Liabilities per capita	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	19	34	32	N/A
Voter Turnout	28	16	16	26	26	17	17	27	27	43	43	33	33	32	32	36	36	23	23	40	40
Well-Being Index	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	9	20	18	18	18

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Arkansas state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. California has never had a Republican trifecta, but did have Democratic trifectas between the years 1999 and 2003 and again after 2010 to the present. California fell steadily in the SQLI ranking until finally reaching the bottom-10 in 2010. The state reached its highest ranking (28th) in 1998 and 1999, first under divided government and then under a Democratic trifecta. The state’s lowest ranking (48th) occurred recently in 2012 under a Democratic trifecta. Except for the years 1995 and 1996, the California legislature has been consistently under Democratic control.

• SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 37.00
• SQLI average with Republican trifecta: N/A
• SQLI average with divided government: 35.21

Chart displaying the partisanship of California government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

See also

• Ballotpedia:Who runs the states
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part One: State Partisanship
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part Two: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)
• Governor of California
• California State Senate
• California House of Representatives

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs