In general terms, political fi nance refers to all money in the political process. While many interconnected areas relate to money in politics, it is beyond the scope of this handbook to cover them all. Th is publication focuses on the subjects most closely related to the process of electoral democracy. We therefore defi ne political fi nance as the (legal and illegal) fi nancing of ongoing political party activities and electoral campaigns (in particular, campaigns by candidates and political parties, but also by third parties).