The Concise Guide to South Carolina State Government

An insider’s guide to the government of the Palmetto State

Former South Carolina state senator Vincent Sheheen provides an engaging and accessible overview of the history and structures of the state’s government with the insight that only someone who has walked the corridors of the State House in Columbia can provide. Throughout, profiles of key figures such as Solomon Blatt (the first Jewish speaker of the house) and Jean Hoefer Toal (the first woman to serve on the SC Supreme Court and as chief justice) animate the text. For elected officials, government professionals, teachers, students, and political junkies, The Concise Guide to South Carolina State Government is the essential nonpartisan place to learn why the Palmetto State works the way it does.

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.