I am an Adjunct Professor in Comparative Politics at Fordham University; Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania; and independent Research Adviser. My academic expertise focuses on the political economy of local governments including voting behavior in local elections, local government responsiveness to citizens, local state capacity, local information and misinformation; and field research and survey methods. My academic and applied research focuses on India, but has expanded in recent years to new contexts including the U.S., Mexico, and Sri Lanka.
My academic research focuses on representation and responsiveness at the level of local elected governments in rural India (gram panchayats) using fieldwork and cross-referenced surveys and behavioral measurement. Specifically I examine the implications of the high-information context of local elections in India on vote choice, accountability, and government responsiveness to citizens’ requests. This work has been published in Electoral Studies, Party Politics, and Perspectives in Politics. Ongoing and future research on India examines the preferences of local bureaucrats and politicians over responsiveness, local government capacity, the local roots of vote preferences in village elections, and local social and climate policy implementation.
In 2019, I joined the Civic Integrity Team at Meta where I conducted international survey research, fieldwork, and large-scale qualitative research to shape content moderation policies that limit the spread of online violence incitement and hate speech in the Global South. My research included fieldwork and remote research in India, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Bangladesh, among other countries, and shaped large-scale and escalation-based policies that reduced the spread of harmful content and rumors in the global south by millions of views (See my portfolio here for details). Since leaving Meta in 2023, I have conducted research as a Research Adviser and independent consultant with non-profit and research organizations focused on democracy, elections, and disinformation including National Democratic Institute, Community Change, Co-Lab Research, and The Global Institute.
Contact Information
Email: mschneider45@Fordham.edu