Prime Directive

The Prime Directive (also known as the Prime Directive of Non-Interference or Non-Interference Directive]] is one of the most essential laws in the United Federation of Planets, and is Starfleet's General Order 1. The Prime Directive dictates that no Federation citizen can knowingly interfere with the natural progression of pre-warp civilizations.

Background
The origins of the Prime Directive originate with humanities first great exploration of the galaxy around them in the 2150s, with the Enterprise (NX-01). Although, the Vulcans had developed their own non-interference directives in the 1870s, humans were not bound be these restrictions. (TOS novel: Strangers from the Sky).

In 2151, the Enterprise made contact with the Fazi and the Hipon on the planet Fazi. When Captain Jonathan Archer discovered that the Fazi were less developed than humans, he immediately wanted to begin to share technology and information with those people. However, persuasion from the Hipon, a more advanced species on the planet's southern continent, urged him not to proceed. Following advice from Subcommander T'Pol he decided not to share technology to allow the two races to communicate in an attempt to let the two races advance at their own rate. However, Archer decided that guidelines governing first contacts and cultural contamination were needed. (ENT novel: By The Book).

Even after the foundation of the Federation in 2161, no rules had been established to govern contact with other species, and during the 2160s their saw a number of cultural contaminations of pre-warp civilizations. The most notable case being the USS Horizon's visit to Sigma Iotia II in 2167. While the initial contact went well, an Horizon crewman left the book, "Chicago Mobs of the Twenties", behind on the planet. And over the next century, the Iotians modelled their civilization on the book. (TOS episode: "A Piece of the Action").

By the 2170s, it was decided by the Federation Council that actions needed to be taken and in 2175 the Resolution of Non-Interference was drafted and signed by all Federation members, and puts together a single philosophy to be adapted, and by the 2190s, the Prime Directive had came into force. (TNG novel: Double Helix: Double or Nothing).

Applications
The philosophy of the Federation was all well and good, but a method needed to be adopted in order to measure the cultural development of a civilization. In the early 2200s, Doctor Alonzo Richter's Scale of Culture was the chosen method to monitor a civilization's progress. (TOS novel: Prime Directive).