Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, South 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 South 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

South Dakota Governor

During every year from 1992 to 2013 there were Republican governors in office for South Dakota. South Dakota is one of eight states that were run by a Republican governor for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992 to 2013. South Dakota was under Republican trifectas for the final 19 years of the study.

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.

South Dakota Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the South Dakota State Senate for two years while the Republicans were the majority for 20 years. The South Dakota State Senate is one of 13 state senates that was Republican 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.

South Dakota House of Representatives

During every year from 1992 to 2013, the Republican Party was the majority in the South Dakota State House of Representatives. The South Dakota House of Representatives is one of nine state Houses that was Republican 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 South Dakota, the South Dakota State Senate and the South Dakota House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

Partisan control changes

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

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

South Dakota’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 9.05, which puts it at 8 in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The year that South Dakota had the highest ranking was 2010, in which it ranked 5th.
• The year that South Dakota had the lowest ranking was 1997, in which it ranked 15th.
• The index type that South Dakota had the highest ranking in was Unfunded Pension Liabilities Per Capita, in which it ranked 2nd.
• The index type that South Dakota had the lowest ranking in was Government Employment Share of the Population, in which it ranked 46th.

South 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	13	10	7
America's Health Rankings	12	14	18	12	11	9	11	14	14	17	12	11	19	17	16	16	20	20	20	19	27
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	22	26	21	20	17	21	13	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	28	23	20	18	13	14	15	19
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	18	7	12	7	13	7
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	17	25	23	16	17	17	12
Govt. Employment Share Population	45	46	46	46	46	46	46	46	45	46	46	46	46	46	46	45	45	45	46	47	46
Graduation Rate	6	6	6	1	1	1	3	7	15	25	18	25	17	14	8	8	11	6	9	6	12
Personal Income Per Capita	37	37	36	38	35	37	36	36	36	35	36	28	24	24	31	25	22	22	20	12	18
Poverty Rate	30	30	34	33	23	43	23	9	27	11	29	33	36	26	24	12	30	33	22	27	N/A
Real GDP per capita	37	32	34	35	35	40	37	35	32	28	20	23	23	22	25	24	18	15	22	23	N/A
S&P Credit Rating	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	21	24	26	26	13	14
State Govt. Spending/GDP	13	13	16	14	14	19	20	18	12	15	8	8	6	9	14	9	4	9	9	8	N/A
State & local tax burden	4	3	4	4	4	3	5	5	5	4	4	4	3	4	3	3	2	2	2	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	5
Unemployment Rate	2	2	2	2	3	3	7	4	3	2	1	1	3	8	6	4	1	3	3	3	3
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	5	3	2	N/A
Voter Turnout	8	1	1	5	5	7	7	18	18	2	2	8	8	2	2	23	23	4	4	27	27
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	31	19	7	11	11

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the South Dakota 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. For all but two years of the study, South Dakota had Republican trifectas. For over half the years of the study South Dakota was ranked in the top-10. Its best ranking, finishing 5th, occurred in 2010, and its worst, finishing 14th, occurred in 2000.

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

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs