There are seven principles, known as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochdale_Principles Rochdale Principles], that guide all cooperatives in the spirit of the original cooperative movement dating back to 1844.  They have been modified somewhat and there are several versions sometimes with six or seven principles, but they are all similar in spirit.

 1. Voluntary and open membership.
 1. Democratic control.
  One member, one vote.
 1. Member economic participation
  Also, "distribution of surplus in proportion to trade."  Another principle sometimes seen is "limited return on equity," in other words, reserves should be used to improve service or infrastructure, not as investments per se.  One of the original principles was cash trading--no extension of credit, but this principle has been largely relaxed.
 1. Autonomy and independence.
  Originally phrased in terms of political and religious neutrality.
 1. Education, training, and information.
 1. Cooperation among cooperatives.
  A relatively new principle added in 1966, intended to strengthen cooperatives in a corporation-dominated economy.
 1. Concern for community.

== Further reading ==
 * StoneSoup
 * [http://hcoop.net/~ntk/newview.txt A New View of Society], by Robert Owen, written 1813-1816.  Robert Owen was an early pioneer of the cooperative movement
 * [http://wiki.multitude.org/wiki/TheCommons The Commons], and excerpt from ''[http://www.infoshop.org/texts/empire.pdf Empire]'' by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri (2000), which may help to understand both the need for cooperatives (especially those related to communications technologies) in contemporary society and the challenges that they face.