Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, SQLI, Appendices

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 contains the section of Part Two pertaining to the Appendices.

Appendices

Appendix A: Top & Bottom Performing State for Each SQLI Indicator

State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) -- Appendix A: Top & Bottom Performing State for Each SQLI Indicator
Indicator	Years	Best Ranking	Worst Ranking
24/7 Wall St Best/Worst Governed States	2010-2012	Wyoming	California
America's Health Rankings	1992-2012	Minnesota	Mississippi
CAFR Debt/GDP	2005-2011	Nebraska	Alaska
Chief Executive Magazine Best and Worst States for Business Survey	2005-2012	Texas	California
CNBC Top States for Business	2007-2012	Texas	Alaska
Forbes Best States for Business	2006-2012	Virginia	Rhode Island
Govt. Employment Share Population	1992-2012	Pennsylvania (lowest share)	Wyoming
Graduation rate	1992-2012	Ohio	South Carolina
Personal Income Per Capita	1992-2012	Connecticut	Mississippi
Poverty Rate	1992-2011	New Hampshire (lowest poverty rate)	Mississippi
Real GDP per capita	1992-2011	Delaware	Mississippi
S&P Credit Rating	2001-2012	Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Utah, and Virginia (tied)	California
State Govt. Spending/GDP	1992-2011	Texas (least spending per capita)	Alaska
State/Local Tax Burden	1992-2010	Alaska (lowest burden)	New York
Tax Freedom Day	2012	Tennessee (earliest day)	Connecticut
Unemployment Rate	1992-2012	Hawaii (lowest rate)	Michigan
Unfunded pension liabilities due per capita	2009-2011	Wisconsin (least amount)	Alaska and Illinois (tied)
Voter Turnout	1992-2012	Minnesota	West Virginia
Well-Being Index	2008-2012	Hawaii	West Virginia

Appendix B: Ballotpedia’s State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Overall State Ranking, 1992-2012

Appendix B: Ballotpedia’s State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Overall State Ranking, 1992-2012
State	Rank	State	Rank
New Hampshire	1	Alaska	26
Minnesota	2	Texas	27
Colorado	3	Georgia	28
Nebraska	4	Idaho	29
Iowa	5	Ohio	30
Connecticut	6	North Carolina	31
Virginia	7	Michigan	32
South Dakota	8	Hawaii	33
Massachusetts	9	Tennessee	34
Delaware	10	Rhode Island	35
Wyoming	11	Oregon	36
Maryland	12	Arizona	37
Wisconsin	13	Maine	38
New Jersey	14	Montana	39
Nevada	15	California	40
Washington	16	Oklahoma	41
Missouri	17	New York	42
Utah	18	Alabama	43
Illinois	19	Arkansas	44
Kansas	20	South Carolina	45
North Dakota	21	Louisiana	46
Indiana	22	Kentucky	47
Vermont	22	New Mexico	48
Florida	24	West Virginia	49
Pennsylvania	25	Mississippi	50

Appendix C: Changes in Rankings from the First to the Second Half

Appendix C: Changes in Rankings from the First to the Second Half
State	Average ranking 1st 11 years	Average ranking 2nd 11 years	Total change from 1st to 2nd	% change from 1st to 2nd
Alabama	44.2	42.55	-1.65	3.74%
Alaska	20.6	30.45	9.85	-47.84%
Arizona	37.6	27.73	-9.87	26.26%
Arkansas	43.8	44.55	0.75	-1.7%
California	32.3	39	6.7	-20.74%
Colorado	3.3	5.73	2.43	-73.55%
Connecticut	2.9	13.55	10.65	-367.08%
Delaware	9.1	10.09	0.99	-10.89%
Florida	28.2	18.36	-9.84	34.88%
Georgia	33.9	23.91	-9.99	29.47%
Hawaii	28	34	6	-21.43%
Idaho	34.8	23.45	-11.35	32.6%
Illinois	11.1	26.27	15.17	-136.69%
Indiana	15.7	28.55	12.85	-81.82%
Iowa	10.8	5.73	-5.07	46.97%
Kansas	20.1	19.82	-0.28	1.4%
Kentucky	45	47.73	2.73	-6.06%
Louisiana	46	44.45	-1.55	3.36%
Maine	33.7	36.09	2.39	-7.09%
Maryland	19.8	11.18	-8.62	43.53%
Massachusetts	5.3	12.73	7.43	-140.14%
Michigan	22.5	38.45	15.95	-70.91%
Minnesota	3.4	2.91	-0.49	14.44%
Mississippi	49.7	49.73	0.03	-0.05%
Missouri	18.6	19	0.4	-2.15%
Montana	37.4	33.45	-3.95	10.55%
Nebraska	7.3	7.09	-0.21	2.86%
Nevada	12.2	20.64	8.44	-69.15%
New Hampshire	1.6	2.36	0.76	-47.73%
New Jersey	11.5	20.73	9.23	-80.24%
New Mexico	48.7	45.18	-3.52	7.22%
New York	40.9	39.55	-1.35	3.31%
North Carolina	35.1	26.18	-8.92	25.41%
North Dakota	25.2	15.55	-9.65	38.31%
Ohio	25	33	8	-32%
Oklahoma	42.4	37.91	-4.49	10.59%
Oregon	34.6	30.36	-4.24	12.24%
Pennsylvania	24.6	24.36	-0.24	0.96%
Rhode Island	29.3	34.64	5.34	-18.21%
South Carolina	45	44.36	-0.64	1.41%
South Dakota	10.8	7.45	-3.35	30.98%
Tennessee	33.9	29.18	-4.72	13.92%
Texas	34.7	19.27	-15.43	44.46%
Utah	24.4	13.91	-10.49	43%
Vermont	21.3	23.45	2.15	-10.12%
Virginia	13.9	4.55	-9.35	67.3%
Washington	17.1	18.45	1.35	-7.92%
West Virginia	48.3	49.27	0.97	-2.01%
Wisconsin	10.9	21.09	10.19	-93.49%
Wyoming	14.7	13.18	-1.52	10.33%

Appendix D: Example of Weighting Calculations

To show the method we used to perform our weighting calculations in our annual and aggregate rankings, we created an example dataset to show the weights applied to each year and in aggregate across the years. This dataset includes four indicators. Indicator 1 has values for 1998 through 2003, while Indicator 2 only has data from 1999 to 2003. Indicator 3 includes data for 2000 to 2003, and Indicator 4 only provides a value for 2003.

In this situation, Indicator 1 has 100 percent of the weight for the 1998 ranking, as Indicator 1 provides the only data available for this year and thus determines the ranking. The year 1999 includes data from two indicators, so each is given equal (50 percent) weighting. As indicators are added, equal weight is applied to each one for each year.

The aggregate weights are calculated by adding up the indicator weightings for each year and dividing by the number of years, or the highest possible weighting score across all of the years. So, for example, Indicator 1’s weighting is 45.82 percent, which results from: (100% + 50% + 33.3% + 33.3% + 33.3% + 25%)/600% = 45.82%

Appendix D: Example of Weighting Calculations
	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	Aggregate, 1998 - 2003
Indicator 1	100%	50%	33.30%	33.30%	33.30%	25%	45.82%
Indicator 2	-	50%	33.30%	33.30%	33.30%	25%	29.15%
Indicator 3	-	-	33.30%	33.30%	33.30%	25%	20.82%
Indicator 4	-	-	-	-	-	25%	4.17%

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)
• Full Part One report PDF
• Full Part Two report PDF
• State government trifectas

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs