Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Georgia

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 Georgia 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

Georgia Governor

From 1992 to 2013, there were Democratic governors in office for the first 11 years while there were Republican governors in office for the last 11 years, including the last 11. During the final nine years of the study, Georgia was under Republican trifectas.

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.

Georgia Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Georgia State Senate for the first 11 years and the Republicans were the majority for the second 11 years.

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

Georgia House of Representatives

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Georgia State House of Representatives for the first 13 years and the Republicans were the majority for the last nine 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 Georgia, the Georgia State Senate and the Georgia House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

Partisan control changes

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

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

Georgia’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 28.67, which puts it at 28 in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The year that Georgia had the highest ranking was 2007, in which it ranked 20th.
• The year that Georgia had the lowest ranking was 1992, in which it ranked 40th.
• The index type that Georgia had the highest ranking in was S&P Credit Rating, in which it ranked 1st.
• The index type that Georgia had the lowest ranking in was Graduation Rate, in which it ranked 49th.

Georgia 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	33	32	34
America's Health Rankings	40	43	38	41	32	35	39	40	39	40	41	41	41	41	41	40	41	43	37	38	36
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	7	8	8	9	8	11	10	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	6	5	6	7	4	7	5	8
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	4	8	10	10	4	9
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	10	15	5	6	8	11	8
Govt. Employment Share Population	28	28	28	27	27	25	23	18	18	18	18	16	16	16	15	13	13	13	14	14	14
Graduation Rate	47	46	46	46	47	49	49	49	50	50	49	49	49	47	49	48	48	47	45	46	45
Personal Income Per Capita	28	28	28	24	25	26	26	27	26	25	28	30	32	27	28	33	36	36	37	39	40
Poverty Rate	42	28	30	25	37	36	33	36	35	36	26	29	33	38	34	37	44	46	47	46	N/A
Real GDP per capita	19	17	18	16	16	18	18	16	17	17	18	22	22	24	26	27	29	30	31	31	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	5	4	6	7	7	8	5	2	4	4	7	7	7	6	6	11	8	6	6	5	N/A
State & local tax burden	23	23	23	19	20	20	20	22	25	21	21	20	20	22	24	23	22	19	18	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	15
Unemployment Rate	24	17	18	18	18	22	22	21	19	16	16	13	18	33	33	31	37	35	39	42	42
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	34	14	12	N/A
Voter Turnout	48	46	46	47	47	40	40	47	47	45	45	41	41	43	43	30	30	34	34	33	33
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	23	24	31	28	31

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

Georgia 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 Georgia 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. Georgia experienced two long periods of trifecta government, both Democratic and Republican, between the years 1992 and 2002 (Democratic) and again between the years 2002 and 2013 (Republican). The state’s lowest SQLI ranking occurred in 1992 (40th) under a Democratic trifecta, while its highest SQLI ranking occurred in 2007 (20th) under a Republican trifecta. Georgia experienced only two years of divided government, in 2003 and 2004, when the state house was under Democratic control. The state experienced its largest jump in the SQLI ranking between 2000 and 2001 (from 33rd to 27th) under a Democratic trifecta.

• SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 33.27
• SQLI average with Republican trifecta: 22.75
• SQLI average with divided government: 27.00

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

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs