Campaign finance

Campaign finance, also known as election finance, refers to all funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referenda. Political parties, charitable organizations, and political action committees (in the United States) are vehicles used in aggregating funds to keep campaigns alive. "Political finance" is also popular terminology, and is used internationally for its comprehensiveness. Campaign finance deals with "the costs of democracy", a term coined by G. Alexander Heard for his famous analysis of campaign finance in the U.S.