Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Missouri

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 Missouri 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

Missouri Governor

From 1992 to 2013, Missouri had Democratic governors in office for 17 years, including the last five, while there were Republican governors in office for five 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.

Missouri Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Missouri State Senate for the first 9 years while the Republicans were the majority for the last 13 years.

Across the country, there were 544 Democratic and 517 Republican State Senates from 1992 to 2013.

Missouri House of Representatives

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Missouri House of Representatives for the first 11 years while the Republicans were the majority for the last 11 years.

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

Partisan control changes

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

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

Missouri’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 18.81, which puts it at 17 in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The year that Missouri had the highest ranking was 2000, in which it ranked 13th.
• The years that Missouri had the lowest ranking were 1993 and 2008, in which it ranked 23rd.
• The index type that Missouri had the highest ranking in was S&P Credit Rating, in which it ranked 1st.
• The index type that Missouri had the lowest ranking in was America’s Health Rankings, in which it ranked 37th.

Missouri 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	24	20	25
America's Health Rankings	33	34	34	37	35	39	37	36	36	34	35	37	38	36	36	36	38	38	39	40	42
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	3	3	3	2	1	3	4	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	21	41	25	20	26	26	23	24
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	25	24	14	17	16	27
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	22	16	30	29	18	31	29
Govt. Employment Share Population	17	17	18	18	20	21	21	22	22	20	20	22	20	19	19	20	19	22	21	22	20
Graduation Rate	32	30	32	32	30	27	29	26	14	24	22	24	24	20	17	14	15	12	10	11	9
Personal Income Per Capita	26	26	25	27	27	27	28	31	31	30	29	29	30	31	29	31	30	31	30	30	31
Poverty Rate	34	36	39	8	9	25	14	26	17	21	16	22	30	25	27	32	32	37	29	31	N/A
Real GDP per capita	28	31	28	25	24	24	25	27	27	30	30	33	32	36	37	37	35	34	35	36	N/A
S&P Credit Rating	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
State Govt. Spending/GDP	6	6	5	3	3	5	10	11	9	12	15	14	12	12	16	13	12	14	15	15	N/A
State & local tax burden	16	17	18	23	21	21	24	25	19	22	22	22	21	23	22	19	20	17	17	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	9
Unemployment Rate	12	22	15	17	20	18	20	11	14	25	20	23	38	38	35	39	34	33	31	29	19
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	18	20	19	N/A
Voter Turnout	19	17	17	23	23	27	27	17	17	15	15	15	15	12	12	10	10	21	21	18	18
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	40	36	34	43	37

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

Missouri was one of eight states to demonstrate a dramatic partisan shift in the 22 years studied. A dramatic shift was defined by a movement of 40 percent or more toward one party over the course of the study period.

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Missouri 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. Missouri had Democratic trifectas from 1993-2000 and Republican trifectas from 2005-2008. Of the 22 years studied, Missouri never finished in the top-10 or bottom-10. It received its highest ranking of 13th overall in 2000, the most recent year of a Democratic trifecta. Its lowest ranking of 23rd overall occurred in 1993 and 2008, both years of which had government trifectas. In 1993 it was a Democratic trifecta, and in 2008 it was a Republican trifecta.

• SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 18.75
• SQLI average with Republican trifecta: 20.00
• SQLI average with divided government: 18.33

Chart displaying the partisanship of Missouri 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 Missouri
• Missouri State Senate
• Missouri House of Representatives

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs