Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, North Dakota

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 North Dakota 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

North Dakota Governor

From 1992 to 2013, in North Dakota there were Democratic governors in office for the first year while there were Republican governors in office for the last 21 years. North Dakota is one of eight states that were run by a Republican governor for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992 and 2013. North Dakota has been under Republican trifectas for the last 19 years.

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.

North Dakota Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the North Dakota State Senate for the first three years while the Republicans were the majority for the last 19 years. The North Dakota State Senate is one of 13 state senates that was Republican for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992 and 2013.

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

North Dakota House of Representatives

During every year from 1992 to 2013, the Republican Party was the majority in the North Dakota State House of Representatives. The North Dakota House of Representatives is one of nine state Houses that was Republican for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992 and 2013.

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 North Dakota, the North Dakota State Senate and the North Dakota House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

Partisan control changes

There were two partisan control changes in North Dakota during the study period. The average number of changes in the 50 states was four, putting North Dakota less than the average.

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

North Dakota’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 20.14, which puts it at 21 in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The year that North Dakota had the highest ranking was 2012, in which it ranked 3rd.
• The years that North Dakota had the lowest ranking were 1998 and 1999, in which it ranked 30th.
• The index type that North Dakota had the highest ranking in was Graduation Rate, in which it ranked 1st.
• The index type that North Dakota had the lowest ranking in was Government Employment Share of the Population, in which it ranked 48th.

North Dakota 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	2	3	1
America's Health Rankings	4	3	2	5	5	6	7	7	10	9	7	9	8	8	8	8	11	17	16	11	12
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	45	43	41	40	35	38	31	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	41	28	21	19	17	24	21	15
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	13	16	16	12	13	5
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	13	9	13	7	11	4	3
Govt. Employment Share Population	48	48	48	48	48	48	48	48	48	48	48	48	48	48	48	48	48	49	48	48	48
Graduation Rate	1	1	3	7	1	1	1	1	2	3	2	2	1	2	2	3	5	9	7	7	3
Personal Income Per Capita	38	42	38	42	37	45	38	39	38	38	38	34	38	36	38	27	17	17	11	7	6
Poverty Rate	22	16	15	24	16	31	41	38	26	38	30	12	11	20	27	9	22	13	20	3	N/A
Real GDP per capita	38	43	40	43	38	42	39	41	38	38	35	31	33	31	32	28	20	16	8	7	N/A
S&P Credit Rating	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	38	36	36	36	17	20	21	24	12	12	13	14
State Govt. Spending/GDP	45	46	44	44	35	45	44	44	43	43	35	31	35	36	36	32	28	26	27	26	N/A
State & local tax burden	18	24	22	26	23	26	23	20	21	18	18	18	14	11	17	20	9	21	16	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	35
Unemployment Rate	6	5	3	2	2	2	7	13	10	1	2	2	2	2	8	8	3	1	1	1	1
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	24	15	15	N/A
Voter Turnout	9	10	10	20	20	16	16	12	12	9	9	17	17	22	22	29	29	15	15	21	21
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	20	8	3	2	18

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

The chart below depicts the partisanship of North Dakota's 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. From 1995-2013 North Dakota had Republican trifectas. The state's lowest SQLI rating, finishing 30th, occurred from 1998-1999. In more recent years of the study, North Dakota's rankings improved, moving it into the top-10 from 2009-2012. Its best ranking, finishing 3rd, occurred in 2012.

Chart displaying the partisanship of North Dakota 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 North Dakota
• North Dakota State Senate
• North Dakota House of Representatives

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs