Respect life The ancient Indian religion Jainism prescribes “ahimsa”, or a path of non-violence to all living beings. Jainism defines violence as intentional or unintentional harm. This could be related to “Empathise” so I have placed it second in the list, although I think this list should not be considered a list of priority. Jains
The first and most all-encompassing precept must be – Empathise The Golden Rule or The Ethic of Reciprocity is “Do not treat others in ways that you would not like to be treated”. The alternative similar and more commonly known version may be easier and more useful to remember, but is not exactly the same
When power is held by representation Democracy These involve representation with a vote. The aim is to provide the people with as much representation as possible. The maximum amount of representation would resemble more an anarchistic system, or an Ancient Greek democratic system, which differs from a modern democracy in various ways. Modern democracies are
When power is held by a select few – Oligarchy, Military Dictatorship (Junta), Theocracy and Plutocracy. Oligarchy An Oligarchy is when the state is ruled by a select group of people, and where the general public have very limited or no influence on that selection. Either there is no election, or there is limited candidacy for
When power is held by an individual – Autocracy, Dictatorship, Monarchy Dictatorship A dictatorship refers to states ruled by an individual (who did not inherit the position) as occurred in some Greek states, including Athens for a few years. Ancient Republican Rome had a tradition of accepting a dictator for limited periods of time in