About speaker: Viktar Fedaseyeu (CEIBS)

Topic: Mega-Donors and Representation of the Wealthy in the Wake of Citizens United

Abstract: Following the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which increased in the ability of the wealthy to finance political campaigns, the share of total campaign contributions attributable to top 1% (top 0.1%) donors increased by 2.7 (5.5) times. Further, the voting of U.S. legislators became more responsive to the preferences of the wealthy and less responsive to the preferences of the less affluent. The increase in legislators' alignment with the wealthy is most pronounced for the bills of fiscal nature and for those bills on which the wealthy and the poor disagree. Finally, it is the politicians who receive a higher share of their campaign funding from the top 1% (top 0.1%) donors that are more likely to shift their voting towards the preferences of the wealthy. Overall, our results suggest the importance of campaign finance in changing the nature of political representation in the United States.

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