The U.S. government was designed as a republic, balancing legislative, executive, and judicial powers to prevent the concentration of power. Here, that balance is shown as precarious: two branches hang “out of order,” while the third tilts toward “autocracy.” The layered frames and rigid clips emphasize how democratic machinery, once flexible, now risks seizing up under authoritarian strain.

As political scientist Don Moynihan warns, America is veering toward “competitive authoritarianism,” where institutions remain but power is systematically consolidated—over the courts, media, elections, bureaucracy, even the military. This artwork crystallizes that alarm: a civic structure meant to safeguard liberty is collapsing into imbalance, raising the question of whether checks and balances still hold, or whether autocracy has already taken their place.