This chapter examines the core values embodied in democracy and in the related liberal tradition. It shows that democracy has acquired wide acceptance in most of the world–and is morally compelling–as the principal basis of legitimate collective decision-making authority. The chapter considers the fundamental values that are definitive of democracy, are embodied in its practice, and enter into justifications of democratic methods of collective governance. Democratic decision procedures in turn embody these values in practices such as free elections, equal voting, and the accountability of officials to the people. Democratic legitimacy refers primarily to the regime, system, or political process as a whole and secondarily to the decisions and laws enacted by governments. Performance in public policies is a criterion by which democratic governments may be compared with nondemocratic ones. Normative political theory today usually seeks to uphold democratic principles universally and therefore on a secular basis.