Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Alabama

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 Alabama 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

Alabama Governor

From 1992 to 2013, in Alabama there were Democratic governors in office for 6 years while there were Republican governors in office for 16 years, including the last 11. Alabama was under Republican trifectas for the last three years of the study period.

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.

Alabama Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Alabama State Senate for 19 years while the Republicans were the majority for three years. The Alabama State Senate is one of 16 state senates that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. However, starting with the Alabama State Senate elections in 2010, both legislative chambers took a turn toward the Republican side. Since Alabamans have elected Republican governors since November 2002, the state as of the November 2010 and 2012 elections has had a Republican trifecta.

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

Alabama House of Representatives

From 1992-2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Alabama State House of Representatives for 19 years while the Republicans were the majority for three years. The Alabama State House 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 Alabama, the Alabama State Senate and the Alabama House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

Partisan control changes

There were five partisan control changes in Alabama during the study period. The average number of changes in the 50 states was four, putting Alabama slightly higher than the average.

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

Alabama’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 43.33, which puts it at 43rd in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The years that Alabama had the highest ranking were 2005 and 2006, in which it ranked 41st.
• The years that Alabama had the lowest ranking were 1999 and 2000, in which it ranked 46th.
• The index type that Alabama had the highest ranking in was Tax Freedom Day, in which it ranked 7th.
• The index type that Alabama had the lowest ranking in was Real GDP per capita, in which it ranked 46th.

Alabama 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	39	36	28
America's Health Rankings	46	45	42	39	45	42	46	46	46	48	45	44	46	45	45	45	46	48	45	48	45
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	15	10	12	15	13	14	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	24	25	23	12	14	20	26	21
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	37	42	39	43	41	38
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	40	35	28	28	25	37	40
Govt. Employment Share Population	34	32	33	31	29	29	28	28	27	27	26	30	29	29	32	33	34	32	33	33	32
Graduation Rate	44	44	44	45	45	44	46	44	44	46	42	44	43	45	43	46	41	44	43	43	43
Personal Income Per Capita	40	41	40	39	41	39	42	42	44	46	44	42	42	41	43	44	43	42	42	42	42
Poverty Rate	40	38	41	48	35	39	38	44	40	45	43	42	48	47	40	42	38	42	42	31	N/A
Real GDP per capita	42	45	45	45	45	45	45	45	46	45	45	45	45	46	45	47	45	46	46	46	N/A
S&P Credit Rating	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	22	21	20	18	17	20	21	24	26	26	28	29
State Govt. Spending/GDP	22	23	28	23	30	35	36	36	35	35	33	34	34	33	34	37	36	36	36	36	N/A
State & local tax burden	9	10	9	9	10	9	10	10	12	13	13	8	9	13	13	11	15	10	8	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	7
Unemployment Rate	25	29	23	25	17	20	19	28	32	28	26	20	21	10	13	11	23	37	32	32	26
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	21	23	23	N/A
Voter Turnout	34	35	35	37	37	25	25	36	36	25	25	39	39	38	38	37	37	24	24	31	31
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	39	44	46	45	45

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Alabama 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. Between the years 1993-1994 and 1999-2002, Alabama had Democratic trifectas, and since 2011, Alabama has had a Republican trifecta. In every remaining year between 1992 and 2012, Alabama had a Republican governor with a Democratic legislature. In every year of the study, Alabama ranked in the bottom-10 on the SQLI ranking. Its lowest ranking occurred during the Democratic trifectas of 1999 and 2000 (46th), while the state’s highest ranking occurred during the divided government years of 2005 and 2006 (41st).

• SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 44.33
• SQLI average with Republican trifecta: 43.50
• SQLI average with divided government: 42.83

Chart displaying the partisanship of Alabama 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)

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs