Partyforumseasia: Running a political party is close to impossible without money. Many of the European parties of the 20th century could count on idealism and the support of their members. Reasonable membership fees were being collected by the treasurers of local branches where many members knew many of the co-members and the local leadership. In meetings they could discuss the party goals and develop leadership qualifications themselves and possibly rise in the hierarchy.
Today, that looks nostalgically outdated. Party machineries have grown into sophisticated entities with all the paraphernalia of a real business and turnovers of millions and sometimes billions. Campaigning is a big strategic challenge depending increasingly on state-of-the-art PR and dominance of the media, including the social ones. AI is contributing the icing sugar, and the top candidates develop pop star personas.
Membership fees are not more than a symbolic part of the overall budgets and mobilisation of dedicated members is getting obsolete.
Given these developments, the funding sources for our political parties deserve more attention and scrutiny by the public. Too often, if there are any rules for donations, the parties as well as the donors are not interested in openness and transparency. They prefer to hide the real amount of influence and their vested interests.
Here is an interesting case study from the United States: