Reviving democracy at the IEEE

It is argued that since 1963, when the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) and the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) merged to form the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), autocracy within the organization has increased. Autocratic and bureaucratic characteristics became more pronounced after 1972 when the IEEE-USA Professional Activities Program (PAP) was established. The ways in which single-candidate ballots, approval voting, the IEEE Assembly, and communication control contribute to a situation in which volunteers who perform professionally, but contrary to the establishment's wishes, are ignored, censored, fired, or ostracized are discussed. The consequences of what transpired in the IEEE since 1963 and recommendations of actions to overturn the deeply rooted selected entrenched hierarchy are outlined. >