Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Arkansas

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 Arkansas 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

Arkansas Governor

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Arkansas State House of Representatives for the first 21 years while the Republicans were the majority for the last year. The Arkansas State House is one of 18 state Houses that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. The final year of the study depicted a shift in the Arkansas House of Representatives which changed to Republican control for the first time.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican state houses of representatives from 1992 to 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.

Arkansas Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Arkansas State Senate for 21 years while the Republicans were the majority for one year. The Arkansas State Senate is one of 16 state senates that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. In the final year of the study, Arkansas senate was under Republican control for the first time.

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

Arkansas House of Representatives

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Arkansas State House of Representatives for the first 21 years while the Republicans were the majority for the last year. The Arkansas State House is one of 18 state Houses that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992 and 2013. In the final year of the study, the Arkansas House of Representatives came under Republican control for the first time.

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

Partisan control changes

There were three partisan control changes in Arkansas during the study period. The average number of changes in the 50 states was four, putting Arkansas slightly lower than the average.

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

Arkansas’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 44.19, which puts it at 44th in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The years that Arkansas had the highest ranking were 1993 to 1995, in which it ranked 41st.
• The years that Arkansas had the lowest ranking were 1999 and 2000, in which it ranked 47th.
• The index type that Arkansas had the highest ranking in was Unfunded pension liabilities per capita, in which it ranked 14th.
• The index types that Arkansas had the lowest ranking in was America’s Health Rankings, Personal income per capita and Real GDP per capita, in which it ranked 48th.

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

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Arkansas 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. Arkansas has never had a Republican trifecta, but did have two Democratic trifectas, between 1992 and 1996 and also between 2007 and 2011. Arkansas has ranked in the bottom-10 of the SQLI ranking for each year of the study. Its highest ranking (41st) occurred in the early 1990s under a Democratic trifecta, while its worst ranking (47th) occurred in 1999 and 2000 under divided government. 2013 was the first year in which Arkansas’s divided government included a Democratic governor and Republican legislature. In all other years of divided government, Arkansas had a Republican governor and a Democratic legislature.

• SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 43.18
• SQLI average with Republican trifecta: N/A
• SQLI average with divided government: 45.30

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

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs