A total-energy theory for a solid is presented. It is based on density-functional theory and consists of a succession of approximations. At the most accurate level, the theory consists of a systematic derivation of an ansatz for the electron density which is best suited for the Harris functional. At the most approximate level, the theory is equivalent to the usual effective-medium theory. At all levels of approximation, every term in the total-energy expression is calculated ab initio, that is, without any fitting to experiment or to other calculations. Every step in the approximation procedure can thus be tested independently