2026 / Once considered the system of government which every other country aspired to, democracy is now in crisis around the globe. We have taken for granted that, in the U.S. at least, democracy would always exist. But it turns out to be shockingly fragile. Repression and authoritarianism glitch the system and threaten to remake it entirely.

The bald eagle—symbol of the strength of the Unites States’ democratic union since its founding—has also had a long history as a symbol of fascism and totalitarian rule. The heraldic eagle of ancient Rome was later adopted in the spirit of nationalist fervor by the Nazi party (Parteiadler, or Party Eagle), by Mussolini in Italy and Franco in Spain, and by Russia and Austria-Hungary in the form of double-headed imperial eagle insignia.