Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Rhode Island

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 Rhode Island 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

Rhode Island Governor

From 1992 to 2013, Rhode Island had Democratic governors in office for three years while there were Republican governors in office for 16 years.

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

Rhode Island Senate

During every year from 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Rhode Island State Senate. The Rhode Island 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.

Rhode Island House of Representatives

During every year from 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Rhode Island State House of Representatives. The Rhode Island House of Representatives is one of 18 state Houses that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013.

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 Rhode Island, the Rhode Island State Senate and the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

Partisan control changes

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

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

Rhode Island’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 32.1, which puts it at 35 in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The year that Rhode Island had the highest ranking was 2002, in which it ranked 26th.
• The year that Rhode Island had the lowest ranking was 2009 and 2011, in which it ranked 41st.
• The index type that Rhode Island had the highest ranking in was Government Employment Share of the Population, in which it ranked 3rd.
• The index type that Rhode Island had the lowest ranking in was Forbes Best States, in which it ranked 50th.

Rhode Island 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	34	43	49
America's Health Rankings	17	21	20	19	23	15	18	15	18	14	17	13	14	11	13	13	10	10	10	13	10
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	43	43	45	46	46	48	44	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	29	34	34	33	39	39	35	39
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	48	48	48	49	50	50
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	43	45	45	50	49	48	49
Govt. Employment Share Population	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	3	2	1	2	3	4
Graduation Rate	35	32	23	24	29	28	28	25	31	32	28	29	28	23	19	29	24	21	21	25	30
Personal Income Per Capita	18	18	19	18	18	17	17	18	17	16	15	16	17	17	17	15	15	15	15	15	14
Poverty Rate	23	16	14	17	16	27	28	19	25	19	24	27	24	29	21	13	26	23	24	20	N/A
Real GDP per capita	21	22	31	30	33	29	30	31	28	23	22	19	19	19	20	22	24	25	24	24	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	26	26	28	29
State Govt. Spending/GDP	49	48	46	47	46	41	40	40	36	38	38	37	37	41	40	39	39	34	38	39	N/A
State & local tax burden	46	46	46	46	46	47	45	46	47	47	47	48	48	46	45	44	44	45	45	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	26
Unemployment Rate	45	47	44	41	28	36	32	27	33	25	18	20	27	32	41	41	49	45	47	48	48
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	38	46	38	N/A
Voter Turnout	22	9	9	25	25	22	22	31	31	18	18	35	35	10	10	32	32	20	20	34	34
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	33	40	33	35	37

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Rhode Island 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. Rhode Island had a Democratic trifecta in the early years of the study, from 1992-1994, but after that maintained a divided government. The state's best SQLI ranking, finishing 26th, occurred in 2002. In more recent years of the study, Rhode Island's ranking fell, finishing in the bottom-10 at 41st in both 2009 and 2011.

Chart displaying the partisanship of the Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island
• Rhode Island State Senate
• Rhode Island House of Representatives

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs