Carl Icahn, the billionaire investor, has been campaigning for shareholder rights here is his latest blog post:

One big reason our economy is in crisis is because self-serving corporate managements and boards failed to provide sufficient risk controls over their finances. The credit crisis was largely preventable and it just shows the extent of mismanagement in corporate America today.

One of the big reasons why this greed and recklessness is allowed to flourish is that many states enable corporate managers and boards to perpetuate themselves in office, no matter how incompetent they are. Most shareholders can’t fight back effectively.

One of these states is Delaware, which generates about 20 percent of state government revenues, or about $550 million annually, from companies that make the state their legal home. A majority of U.S. public companies incorporate in Delaware and many major business decisions are made in its courts.

Delaware courts, which are justifiably respected and adept at making speedy decisions, are often hamstrung by a pro-management bias that emanates from the Delaware legislature, which regularly passes laws that favor managements over stockholders in an effort to attract more businesses to incorporate in the state.