business affairs in the late 1990s. As long as a CEO has the confidence of the board of directors, he or she generally is permitted a great deal of freedom in running a corporation. But sometimes, individual and institutional stockholders, acting in concert and backing dissident candidates for the board, can exert enough power to force a change in management. Generally, only a few people attend annual shareholder meetings. Most shareholders vote on the election of directors and important policy proposals by "proxy" -- that is, by mailing in election forms. In recent years, however, some annual meetings have seen more shareholders -- perhaps several hundred -- in attendance. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires corporations to give groups challenging management access to mailing lists of stockholders to present their views.