An insider's guide to the government of the Palmetto State
In The Concise Guide to South Carolina State Government, former state senator Vincent Sheheen provides an engaging and accessible overview of the structures of the state's government and how they came to be. Sheheen covers the history of South Carolina's government, the legislative branch, the executive branch, the judicial branch, state agencies, and local government, with the insight that only someone who has walked the corridors of the State House in Columbia can provide. Throughout, profiles of a key figures such as Solomon Blatt (the first Jewish speaker of the house) and Jean Hoefer Toal (the first woman to serve on the state Supreme Court and as chief justice), animate the text.
For elected officials, government professionals, teachers, students, media on the politics beat, and political junkies, The Concise Guide to South Carolina State Government will become the first place to go to learn about why the Palmetto State works the way it does.
Published with the generous support of Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, a law firm proudly serving the needs of business and government across South Carolina.
Vincent Sheheen is an attorney and former state senator, and was elected Mayor of Camden, SC, in 2024. He has taught at the University of South Carolina Honors College and Joseph F. Rice School of Law as well as the Francis Marion University Non-Profit Institute. Sheheen is cohost of the podcast Bourbon in the Back Room and has published numerous essays, articles, and the book, The Right Way: Getting the Palmetto State Back on Track.
"A student of state history and politics, Senator Sheheen chronicles the good, the bad, the sublime, and the ridiculous across our state institutions. Drawing on his firsthand expertise, he adds insights distinctly missing (or conspicuously omitted) from earlier writing on this subject."—Dr. Luther F. Carter, president, Francis Marion University
