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A "split perspective" is sometimes employed in which the smaller party intends to remain in the larger party for a short period of time with the intention of splitting the organization and leaving with more members than they began with. This is the classical version of entryism advocated by Leon Trotsky in his essays on "the French Turn" in which Trotskyists entered the youth wing of the French Socialist Party (the SFIO) for a brief period in the 1930s.

Other entryists engage in a long-term perspective in which they work within a larger organization for decades in hopes of gaining influence and a degree of power and perhaps even control of the larger organization. This is sometimes known as entryism sui generis. The former was attempted by the Militant Tendency in Britain who worked within the Labour Party from the 1960s on and managed to get a controlling influence in the Young Socialists and Liverpool Council before being expelled in the 1980s. Many other Trotskyist groups have attempted similar feats but failed to gain the influence Militant attained. In France, Trotskyist organizations, most notably the Parti des Travailleurs, have successfully infiltrated trade unions and attempted to infiltrate mainstream left-wing parties. In Australia, the practice was widespread during the 1950s, where Communists battled against Catholics and other anti-Communists, known as 'Groupers', for control of Australian trade unions. The Groupers subsequently formed the breakaway Democratic Labor PartyFor alternative meanings, see Democratic Labour Party The Democratic Labor Party (DLP) is a minor political party in Australia. It is descended from, but not legally the same as, a party of the same name which existed from 1955 to 1976, and which until 19.

An important thing to note is that entryism does not involve dissolvingIn chemistry, to dissolve a substance is to cause that substance to pass into a solution. For example: common salt ( sodium chloride) can dissolve in water. See Solvation. In film, a dissolve is a gradual transition from one image to another. In film this the small organisation into the larger one. Entryism is generally (but not always) done secretly and often organisations run on democratic centralistDemocratic centralism is a political concept referring to the governance of political parties and groups. It is generally regarded as being an element of Leninism, and the term is sometimes used as a synonym for Leninist policy inside a political party. lines, but is also found in the far-rightThe term far-right refers to the relative position a group or person occupies within a political spectrum. The terms "far-right" and " far-left" are used to say that someone is an extremist, not in tune with the majority. A common slur against the far-rig entering mainstream right-wing groups, e.g. British National PartyThe British National Party BNP is a United Kingdom political party, and is the largest political party of the far-right in the United Kingdom. History and overview The modern BNP was founded in 1982 by John Tyndall, a former chairman of the National Front members joining the UK Independence Party.

In situations where the larger organization is hostile to entryism, the entryists may engage in a degree of subterfuge to hide the fact that they are, in fact, an organization in their own right. In the case of the Militant Tendency, this was done by claiming that the tendency was in fact simply a newspaper, Militant, its editorial board and readers. Militant was open about its support for Trotskyism and revolutionary socialism. Other entrist groups have gone to the extent of hiding their political views as well as their organisational existence.

Some political parties, such as the Workers' Party in Brazil or the Scottish Socialist Party allow political tendencies to openly organize within them. In these cases the term entryism is not usually used. Political groups which work within a larger organisation but also maintain a "public face" often reject the term "entryism" but are nevertheless usually considered to be entryists by the larger organisation.