The Anatomy of Campaign Finance: Money's powerful influence on US politics and policy

The Center for New York City Affairs presented the annual Nathan Levin Lecture on Public Policy, celebrating the 40th year of the Urban Policy program at the Milano School.

The power of campaign donations to shape political decisions is front and center in the 2012 presidential election. Citizens United, the Supreme Court decision that allowed corporations, mega- donors and unions to invest vast resources in candidates' campaigns, has been called an undemocratic giveaway to social and economic elites. Does their growing electoral power undermine the public interest, or simply increase the public visibility of candidates' messages and influence? What are the long-term implications for our political culture and public policy? And what are the prospects for meaningful change?

Featuring:  Jacob Hacker, director of the Institution for Social and Policy Studies and professor of political science at Yale University; co-author of Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class Joseph Hagan, contributing writer to Vanity Fair and New York Magazine; author of "The Coming Tsunami of Slime: How Super-PACs, vulnerable candidates, and armies of mercenaries will converge to create the ugliestcampaign ever"

Moderated by:  Jeff Smith, assistant professor of politics and advocacy at the Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy, The New School.

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The Nathan Levin Lecture on Public Policy was established in 1989 in honor of the late Nathan Levin, a trustee and acting president of The New School. This year's event marks the 40th anniversary of the New School's graduate program in Urban Policy Analysis and Management, housed at the Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy.