William G. Howell is the Sydney Stein Professor in American Politics at the University of Chicago, where he is director of the Center for Effective Government and cohost of Not Another Politics Podcast. He has taught courses on the American presidency for more than twenty years, and his many books include Presidents, Populism, and the Crisis of Democracy; The Wartime President; and Power without Persuasion (Princeton).
How institutions shape the American presidency
This incisive undergraduate textbook emphasizes the institutional sources of presidential power and executive governance, enabling students to think more clearly and systematically about the American presidency at a time when media coverage of the White House is awash in anecdotes and personalities. William Howell offers unparalleled perspective on the world's most powerful office, from its original design in the Constitution to its historical growth over time; its elections and transitions to governance; its interactions with Congress, the courts, and the federal bureaucracy; and its persistent efforts to shape public policy. Comprehensive in scope and rooted in the latest scholarship, The American Presidency is the perfect guide for studying the presidency at a time of acute partisan polarization and popular anxiety about the health and well-being of the republic.
• Focuses on the institutional structures that presidents must navigate, the incentives and opportunities that drive them, and the constraints they routinely confront
• Shows how legislators, judges, bureaucrats, the media, and the broader public shape the contours and limits of presidential power
• Encourages students to view the institutional presidency as not just an object of study but a way of thinking about executive politics
• Highlights the lasting effects of important historical moments on the institutional presidency
• Enables students to grapple with enduring themes of power, rules, norms, and organization that undergird democracy "William Howell is a superstar among presidency scholars, and he has written an enlightening tour de force of a textbook-applying an institutional perspective that brings coherence and new insights to a full range of presidential topics, from policymaking to elections to public opinion to unilateral action and more. An incomparable opportunity for students to learn from the very best."-Terry Moe, Stanford University "Individual presidents cast an oversized shadow. For admirers and critics alike, they are the focal point of American politics and dominate the political stage. Yet presidential decisions and actions are products of broader institutional forces, both within the executive branch and the larger domestic and international environment in which presidents operate. The American Presidency teaches students to think institutionally. In so doing, Howell both provides students the background essential to understanding the presidency and equips them with the analytical tools to assess independently the most pressing questions in contemporary presidential politics."-Douglas L. Kriner, Cornell University "Howell argues that the presidency is best understood as an institution rather than an array of personalities. With his discerning and distinctive point of view, Howell writes an ideal text-one that covers all the major topics and approaches to the presidency and, at the same time, offers a consistent argument. This superb text is designed to teach students to think like political scientists while learning the history of this institution and issues of political concern today."-Jeffrey K. Tulis, University of Texas at Austin "Howell provides an invaluable primer for students to understand how presidents may thrive in an institutionalized structure of shared powers, and why established executive processes and ethics-based practices are essential to the continuance of representative democracy. This is a must-read volume, i
