Daisy Brazil (she/her) is a 3rd year Honors Drama student with a minor in Political Science. Her paper “Avoiding Accountability: Democratic Backsliding in Poland” was published in the 2022 edition of the PSUR!
Daisy volunteers at the University of Alberta's High School Model United Nations conference and at the New Works Festival, which showcases new plays from emerging artists in the U of A community.
Her favourite Political Science course has been POL S 371 (Populism and Democracy in Central Europe). Daisy describes that she “really loved being able to dig into specific case studies to examine political behaviour in that region has been affected by their relatively new relationship with the European Union and their legacy as former Soviet states”, adding that she “learned a lot about how different perceptions of history and legacy can form national identities, and how they can also be weaponized to justify anti-democratic behaviour.”
Read further to hear about Daisy’s research, her reassurances to students to submit to the PSUR even if Political Science is your minor, and the support she received from the PSUR team.
Hi Daisy! What inspired you to research the specific topic of your paper?
I wrote this paper for a class on Central Europe that I took in the fall term, and I honestly had no knowledge of politics in the region before taking this class. As I was taking it, I became so interested in how these post-communist states who had managed to reject authoritarianism in the past were suddenly swinging in the complete opposite direction and began rejecting many democratic principles, though this time from the opposite side of the political spectrum. I've always been interested in how a country's national history and mythology influence political behaviour, so I wrote about Poland because they have a strong sense of national identity that political parties are able to utilize in order to explain and justify anti-democratic policies.
What made you want to submit to the PSUR?
In all honesty, I was really proud of the work that I put into this paper and I wanted the opportunity for it to reach a wider audience! I had been thinking about submitting a paper for a long time but I didn't think I had anything good enough to submit. After working on this paper for a class, I was really happy with how it turned out and I figured that it was as good a time as any to submit to the PSUR!
What was the submission and peer-review process like for you? And what was the most valuable part?
The submission and peer-review process were both very smooth and simple! The peer editors were incredibly smart and gave me a lot of feedback that really made my work better. The most valuable part was the support I got from the PSUR team — they were all so encouraging and supportive.
What would you say to someone who is considering submitting their work to the PSUR?
It sounds simple, but don't be afraid to submit! I had a lot of imposter syndrome as I was submitting since I'm not a Political Science major, but it was absolutely worth it and I'm really proud to be able to showcase my work. It was an experience I'm so grateful for and I really encourage anyone who has written an excellent Poli Sci paper, whether it's your major or not, to submit.
You can read Daisy’s article in the 2022 edition of the PSUR on our website!