Schattschneider Award for the best dissertation in American politics (2001), by the American Political Science Association and recipient of the best dissertation on the presidency (2001), by the Center for Presidential Studies at the George Bush School of Government and Public Service,[3] Texas A&M University.
[4] Howell is currently working on research projects on Obama's education initiatives, distributive politics, and the normative foundations of executive power.
Howell recently published two books, one with coauthors Saul Jackman and Jon Rogowski entitled The Wartime President: Executive Influence and the Nationalizing Politics of Threat (University of Chicago Press, 2013); and the other, with David Brent, entitled Thinking about the Presidency: The Primacy of Power (Princeton University Press, 2013).
[5] He also is the co-author (with Jon Pevehouse) of While Dangers Gather: Congressional Checks on Presidential War Powers (Princeton University Press, 2007); author of Power without Persuasion: The Politics of Direct Presidential Action, one of Choice's Top Academic Titles for 2004, (Princeton University Press, 2003);[6] co-author (with Paul Peterson) of The Education Gap: Vouchers and Urban Schools (Brookings Institution Press, 2002); co-author (with John Coleman and Ken Goldstein) of an introductory American politics textbook series; and editor of additional volumes on the presidency and school boards.
He has published about presidential power and education policy in various media outlets including the New York Times[7] and the Wall Street Journal.