>> students participated in the 20 year anniversary of studentcam's student documentary

competition. we ask, over the past 20 years, what has been the most important change in america? all this month, we are featuring our top 21 winning entries. a 10thrader from jinks oklahoma, their winning documentary talks about the impact of citizens united and how super pac's influence campaigned fundraising. >> super p.a.c.s are a disaster. they're a scam, you better get rid of them. >> right now, super p.a.c.s can spend as much money as they want, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of dollars to elect the candidates who they want, who represent their interests. >> voting, a crucial aspect of our democracy that allows

everyone to have a say in government. along with casting your vote, you can volunteer and vote with your dollar to your preferred candidate, so long as your donation is under $3,300. these caps are put in police to ensure elections are fair by preventing the wealthy from having too much influence. at least this used to be the case until citizens united happened. in december, 2007, citizens united, a nonprofit organization sthied f.c.c., because they couldn't air their movie smearing hillary clinton. quick several district courts sided against them. >> in the end, the supreme court cited that political speech must

prevail against laws that would suppress it. >>'s landmark decision set a precedent to have fewer restrictions when it comes to media and donations. >> last week the supreme court reversed a law that i believe will open the floodgates for special interests. >> it established a new norm that allowed individuals and corporations to donate unlimited funds to super p.a.c.s, political action committees. >> if you can receive unlimited amount of money you can speak louder. it is very difficult for candidates to answer back. >> these organization have gained momentum with groups spending over $4 billion in the 2022 election cycle. >> people talk about the money spent in politics but americans spend more money on halloween than they do on their democracy. >> americans, arguably, consider

free speech their most crucial right. it's the foundation of the united states. super p.a.c.s allow americans to voice their political aspirations without limitations. >> the premise is freedom of speech, the more speech, the better. >> the more people participate, the more information people are getting, it's a good thing. it has given candidates who may not have otherwise had much of a chance to win they have outside allies and sizable support networks they otherwise didn't have. >> in 2022, voter turnout and donations to political campaigns were the highest they have ever been. 3.7 million small donors donated over $740 million. this sounds incredible and it is. until you look at the other donors. >> almost 60 donors have accounted for nearly one third of all of the money donated so far in the presidential race.

>> these 60 donors currently hold an incredible amount of leverage over politicians and that just isn't right. the citizens united decision has played a pivotal role in american politics over the years. that's why many people have started calling for increased donor transparency. super p.a.c.s have to disclose all their donors but 501-c-4 nonprofits don't. the nonprofit can donate to the same super p.a.c. this money is called dark money and it's a way foreign governments and corporations exercise secret criminal in u.s. elections. >> long story short it created a landscape where it's easy for very wealthy people to influence politics without any of us knowing. >> because super p.a.c.s operate on independent expenditure they're prohibited from being in contact with a candidate. they find ways around this. take ted cruz. his campaign uploaded 15 hours of stock footage of him doing good deeds, sharing it with

anyone interested in making any kind of support for him. or jessica cisneros who used a red method called red boxing back when she targeted the particular voters she wanted to target and what she wanted them to hear. >> this isn't a good system. but we have a chance to make a better one. many cities are implemented democracy voucher programs. >> instead of people individually donating to political campaigns they get vouchers to give to a politician of their choice to spend in. oakland, california, a ballot measure passed to give every resident a $100 voucher to give to any politician. in seattle, washington, a ballot measure passed to give every eligible citizen a $25 to give to a city council or attorney candidate while only costing the average seattleite $8. this encourages candidates to appeal to voters rather than corporate donors to get their money, leading to a greater sense of empowerment for voters.

>> you appeal to the people whose voices will be amplified. >> over the past 25 years our campaign finance system changed drastically. our system before citizens united wasn't perfect but we have an opportunity to make things better. by instituting a national democracy voucher program we can level the playing field, reduce the power of corporations and the wealthy and make the country more democratic over the next 20 years. >> to watch this and all winning entries, visit our website at udentcam.org. >> she spends washing, the ladies issues in government, politics and public policy. for washington and across the country. coming up thursday morning, this

week's efforts by house leadership to pass legislation reauthorizing the foreign surveillance intelligence act. usaid to ukraine israel and the impeachment proceedings with california democratic congresswoman judy chu. she spends washington journal, join the conversation live at 7:00 eastern thursday morning. on c-span, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. >> thursday, the house and senate gather in a joint meeting as pt of the official visit to the u.s. live coverage starts just after 10:30 a.m. eastern on c-span2 at 9:30 a.m. eastern, protecting journalists and their

sources from overreach an censorship. and on c-span3, the preside's 2025 budget request for his agency. that gets underway at 2:00 p.m. eastern. you n also watch her live coverage on the c-span now video app or online at c-span.org. quick c-span is your unfiltered view of government. announcer: cox supports c-span as a public seice, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy.