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.