West Virginia Politics and Government

Richard A. Brisbin Jr. is professor emeritus of political science at West Virginia University. John C. Kilwein is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at West Virginia University. L. Christopher Plein is the Eberly Family Professor for Outstanding Public Service Emeritus at West Virginia University.

“In this third edition of West Virginia Politics and Government is extensive in its reach, covering every facet of government in the state. It addresses such recent-and important-developments in the state as the opioid crisis, the coronavirus pandemic and the response to it, the teacher strike and the establishment of charter schools, and the quest to improve broadband internet access. I found the descriptions of policy disputes-including those involving mountaintop-removal mining, fracking, and the history of the coal industry and its labor wars-to be especially well done.”-Louis Jacobson, senior correspondent for PolitiFact and former deputy editor of Roll Call “The three authors are exceedingly knowledgeable of the politics and governance of West Virginia. . . . Equally important, their lived experiences as public scholars in the state allow for bringing applied realism to the depiction and explanations in the book.”-Sam Workman, professor and director of the Institute for Policy Research and Public Affairs at West Virginia University