RESEARCH

My research focuses on the intersection between public administration, public policy, and democracy. I investigate why governments adopt transparency, open government, and anti-corruption policies, and what their consequences are. I argue that government transparency and openness are important from an ethical standpoint, but their usefulness depends on how citizens perceive them. I demonstrate that transparency, openness, and anti-corruption policies can have long-term effects as long as active citizens and civil society value them and mobilize to hold the government accountable.

I also research issues related to public sector human resources management (HRM). This includes studying how to build successful performance management systems and how public administration paradigms have influenced public HRM systems and institutions.

​My research is comparative and international in scope, and I call for more international engagement in the field of public administration. I use both qualitative and quantitative methods and combine national-level insights with the analysis of global issues and cross-national trends.

Publications

Transparency, Open Government, and Anti-Corruption

• Schnell, S. (forthcoming). Chapter 1. Global Evolution of Open Government. In: Gasco-Hernandez, M., Prasad, A., Gil-Garcia, J. R., & Pardo, T. A. (Eds.). Research Handbook on Open Government. Edward Elgar Publishing.
• Schnell, S., Kim, J., Munno, G., Nabatachi, T. (2024). How citizens want to “see” the state: Exploring the relationship between transparency and public values. Public Administration Review, 84(2), 357-372. 
• Schnell, S. (2023). To Know Is to Act? Revisiting the Impact of Government Transparency on Corruption. Public Administration and Development, 43(5), 355-367. 
• Schnell, S. (2022). Transparency in a “Post-Fact” World. Perspectives on Public Management and Governance, 5(3), 222-231. 
• Schnell, S. (2020). Vision, voice, and technology: Is there a global “open government” trend? Administration & Society, 52(10), 1593-1620. 
• Schnell, S., & Jo, S. (2019). Which countries have more open governments? Assessing structural determinants of openness. The American Review of Public Administration, 49(8), 944-956. 
• Schnell, S. (2018). Cheap talk or incredible commitment? (Mis)calculating transparency and anti‐corruption. Governance, 31(3), 415-430. 
• Schnell, S. (2018). From information to predictability: Transparency on the path to democratic governance. The case of Romania. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 84(4), 692-710. 
• Schnell, S. (2015) Mimicry, Persuasion, or Learning? The case of two transparency and anti- corruption policies in Romania. Public Administration and Development, 35(4), 277-287. 

Public Management and Performance

• Schnell, S. & Gerard C. (2023). From bureaucrats to entrepreneurs to networkers: Reappraising human resources management ideals and practices in the public administration. Review of Public Personnel Administration (ROPPA), 43(4), 625-676 . 
• Schnell, S., Mihes, D., Sobjak, A., & van Acker, W (2021). Performance management in the public administration – Seven success factors. Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions Insight. Washington DC: The World Bank.
• Beagles, J., Schnell, S. & Gerard, C. (2019). Overcoming isolationism in American public administration. Perspectives on Public Management and Governance, 2(4), 255-266. 
• Schnell, S. & Brinkerhoff, D. (2010). Replicability and Scaling Up. In: Helmut Anheier & Stefan Toepler (Eds.) (2010). International Encyclopedia of Civil Society. New York: Springer

• Schnell, S. & Saxby, J. (2010). Mobilizing against hunger and poverty: Capacity and change in a Brazilian social mobilization network. Public Administration and Development, 30(1), 38-48. 

Selected Presentations and Invited Talks

• Schnell, S., Liu, Y. & Nabatchi, T. (2023). Liberty or Science? Individual values and willingness to comply with Covid vaccine guidance in the US. Public Management Research Conference (PMRC), Utrecht, Netherlands.
• Schnell, S. (2023). Managers not measures: isomorphism in performance management and the hidden benefits of informality. International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM) Annual Conference, Budapest, Hungary.
• 2022. Developmental, administrative, or democratic state? Reconciling bureaucracy and democracy in developing countries. Perspectives on Public Management and Governance (PPMG) Symposium "Democracy, Human Rights, and Public Administration."
• 2022. Autocratization by gunpoint or democratization by persuasion? The War in Ukraine: A Special PARCC Conversations Program, Syracuse University.
• 2021. From bureaucrats to entrepreneurs to networkers: Reappraising human resources management ideals and practices in the public administration. Symposium on “Reappraising Bureaucracy in the 21st Century,” sponsored by Perspectives on Public Management and Governance (PPMG).
• 2020. Managers or Measures? Insights from an Analysis of Performance Management of Civil Servants in Romania. World Bank, Governance Global Practice.
• 2019. Round Table: Does transparency deliver on its promise? 6th Global Conference on Transparency Research (GCTR), Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
• 2018. Vision, Voice, and Technology: Is There a Global 'Open Government' Trend. PARCC Conversations in Conflict Studies, Syracuse University.
  
• 2017. Public Service Education about Corruption Control and Government Transparency. NASPAA Annual Conference, Washington, D.C.
• 2015. Panel: Making Our Technical and Public Service Content Relevant Across Contexts. NASPAA Annual Conference, Brooklyn, New York.
• ​2015. Panel: Changing practice: can it be managed? “Doing Development Differently: Can It Be Managed” workshop organized by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), Research Triangle Institute (RTI), and the University of Birmingham, London, UK.