“The golden age of America begins right now,” Donald Trump yesterday told the crowd at his inauguration – and the watching world. Yet the returning president’s speech was as much about those he would be going after – illegal immigrants, the justice department, the Panama Canal – as how he would improve the lives of his fellow citizens. US political expert Dafydd Townley was watching and has the key takeaways from the speech.

Thanks to Trump, we will have to get used to hearing even more about what Elon Musk thinks about the world. His political philosophy can be confusing, but there are multiple themes that crop up again and again. Anxiety about birth rates. Attacks on the rotten elite. Futuristic mega projects.

As Felix Schilk sets out in this article, these are all tropes used by anti-democratic movements since the beginning of human history. A cycle of decadence, decline and apocalypse is presented as an argument for authoritarianism.

If democracy is at risk, then we might turn to thinkers of the past for some advice. Ancient Greek philosopher Plato wasn’t known for his love of rule by the people, but Matthew Duncombe argues Plato’s work could actually point to a solution to some of democracy’s current woes.