Danielle Gonzalez-Gaubeka

Danielle (Dani) Gonzalez-Gaubeka (she/her) is a junior majoring in International Relations with specializations in East and South Asia and Comparative International Governance. Dani spoke with us about her research interests, favorite IR classes, internship experience, and what she enjoys outside the classroom.

What are your primary research interests?

My research interests broadly encompass democracy, governance, and the rule of law. During my freshman year, I worked as a research assistant to Professor Anna Grzymała-Busse and Professor Steven Press, aiding them in their research on global electoral trends of populism and the history of the former microstate of Neutral Moresnet, respectively. My sophomore year, I worked as a student fellow with the Hoover Institution under the guidance of Professor Grzymała-Busse researching global patterns of corruption from a historical perspective. I am thrilled to be a member of the 2025-26 Fisher Family CDDRL Honors program, where I will be writing my honor’s thesis alongside a cohort of my peers. My thesis will investigate democratic memory politics in Spain. Spain owes its successful democratization to the pacto del olvido — the pact of forgetting — enshrined in the 1977 Amnesty Law. However, recent efforts to reconcile democratic memory have incited backlash from the center and far right, going beyond their efforts to preserve the status quo of the pacto del olvido by introducing revisionist laws. I hope to elucidate what has incited this change in the political strategy of Spanish conservative actors, and how this informs our understanding of historical memory politics in other post-authoritarian democracies.

What is your favorite IR class so far and why?

I am fascinated by how democracy can erode. The course that sparked my interest was Professor Anna Grzymała-Busse’s course POLISCI 140P: “Populism and the Erosion of Democracy.” Taking this course provided the invaluable experience of studying a live issue in global politics in-depth and was instrumental in shaping my current academic interests.

Can you tell us a bit about an upcoming internship experience?

I am greatly looking forward to interning with Renew Europe in Brussels this summer, one of the European Union’s parliamentary groups. I will be working with the European Democracy Shield committee, whose work focuses on fighting disinformation, protecting election integrity, and promoting freedom of the press through the implementation of the European Media Freedom Act. I am eager to gain firsthand experience in the work of the European Democracy Shield committee in their mission to enact policies that defend the integrity of European democracies.

Any hobbies or outside interests?

I enjoy studying foreign languages (Spanish, French, Italian, and Korean), creative writing, and most recently, learning to play the piano. I also dance with XTRM, Stanford’s K-Pop dance team.