Democracy, understood as the political self-determination of a people, is the foremost task and central subject of political theory. This two-volume textbook therefore provides a systematic and comprehensible introduction to contemporary normative and empirical democratic theory. The present first volume addresses important normative theoretical approaches in contemporary discourse. All contributions in the volume are comparably structured: they include a historical contextualization of ideas, a comprehensive presentation using prominent theorists as examples, a critique of the central arguments and normative ideals, and finally, an outlook on the achievements, limitations, and impact of the respective theory. The introduction to contemporary democratic theory provides all the essential foundations on the topic and creates a clear overview in a pluralistic discussion.