Entryism
Encyclopedia
Entryism is a political tactic by which an organisation or state encourages its members or agents to infiltrate another organisation in an attempt to gain recruits, or take over entirely. In situations where the organisation being "entered" is hostile to entryism, the entryists may engage in a degree of subterfuge to hide the fact that they are, in fact, an organisation in their own right.
Entryism does not involve dissolving the small organisation into the larger one. Entryism is often (but not always) done secretly and often in organisations run on Leninist
lines. The strategy of entryism is as old as politics itself.
refers to the classic form of entryism advocated by Leon Trotsky
in his essays on "the French Turn": In June 1934, he proposed that the French Trotskyists dissolve their Communist League to join the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and that it also dissolve its youth section to join more easily with revolutionary elements. The tactic was adopted in August 1934, despite some opposition. The turn successfully raised the group's membership to 300 activists.
Proponents of the tactic advocated that the Trotskyists should enter the social democratic
parties to connect with revolutionary socialist currents within them, and steer those currents toward Leninism. However, entry lasted only for a brief period: the leadership of the SFIO started to expel the Trotskyists. The Trotskyists of Workers Party of the United States
also successfully used their entry into the Socialist Party of America
to recruit their youth group and other members. Similar tactics were also used by Trotskyist organisations in other countries, including The Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Poland. Entrism was used to connect with and recruit leftward moving political currents inside radical parties.
Since the turn in France, Marxists have used the tactic even if they had different preconceptions of how long the period of entry would last.
In entryism sui generis ("of a special type"), Trotskyists, for example, do not openly argue for the building of a Trotskyist party. "Deep entryism" refers to the long duration.
The tactic is closely identified with Michel Pablo
and Gerry Healy
, who were leaders of the Fourth International
in the late 1940s and 1950s. The "deep entry" tactic was developed as a way for Trotskyists to respond to the Cold War
. In countries where there were mass social democratic or communist parties, it was as difficult to be accepted into these parties as Trotskyist currents as to build separate Trotskyist parties. Therefore Trotskyists were advised to enter secretly, and not to come forward as Trotskyists with their full program.
In Europe, this was the approach used, for example, by The Club
in the Labour Party, and by Fourth Internationalists inside the Communist Parties. In France
, Trotskyist organizations, most notably the Parti des Travailleurs
and its predecessors, have successfully entered trade union
s and mainstream left-wing parties (see Lionel Jospin
for a famous example).
or the Scottish Socialist Party
allow political tendencies to openly organise 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 sometimes considered to be entryists by the larger organisation.
infiltration of National Council of Civil Liberties
in the United Kingdom
, and British National Party
members joining the UK Independence Party
. In the US, the John Birch Society
and other groups were accused of entryism when Barry Goldwater
was unexpectedly selected as the Republican Party
candidate for US president in the 1964 election. In Australia, the centre-right New South Wales state branch of the Liberal Party of Australia
was accused of being taken over by a morally conservative group in 2006.
Also in Australia, during the 1970s and 1980s the anti-semitic
Australian League of Rights
attempted to take over the National Party. Although membership swelled, the number of seats held by the Nationals fell. The One Nation party has been the persistent target of Australian Far Right groups in more recent times.
editorials, newspapers and all kinds of media written in minority language
s seen as undesirable by the central power; as well as Universities, sports unions, language and/or cultural associations representative of a national minority present in a territory. Entryism on national minorities ultimately leads to the winding-up of the economic, social, political and cultural fabric of the minority or autochthonous group and its replacement by state-controlled organizations. The very notion of entryism on national minorities may vary: thus, the 'agent' performing entryism against a local organization may range from an alien duly trained in the language and customs of the minority group, to members of the autochthonous civil society acting under bribery or subject to coercion by the state apparatus.
, the practice was widespread during the 1950s, where Communists
battled against right-wing 'Groupers
', for control of Australian trade union
s. The Groupers subsequently formed the Democratic Labor Party
. Today the practice in Australia is often known as a type of branch stacking
.
In recent times RSPCA Australia
has been described as being the victims of the practice. The National Farmers' Federation
and Animals Australia have each been accused of infiltrating branches of RSPCA Australia
in an attempt to promote opposing policies concerning battery hens, intensive pig farming
, and the live export
of sheep.
and his supporters of attempting to win the leadership of the former Progressive Conservative Party
in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the intention of dramatically changing its policies.
Orchard had made his name as a leading opponent of free trade
, which was perhaps the singular signature policy of the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney
in the late 1980s and early 1990s. While opponents pointed to this remarkable distance, Orchard and his supporters argued that they represented "traditional" Tory
values and economic nationalism that the older Conservative Party
, and the Progressive Conservative party before Mulroney, had espoused, namely that of John Diefenbaker
.
Opponents of the 2003 merger between the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties also charged Alliance members with entryism. It was widely speculated that most, if not all of the approximately 25,000 Canadians who swelled the PC Party's membership before the merger vote were Alliance members. They would likely have voted in favour of the merger.
Liberals for Life
, a pro-life
group allied with the Campaign Life Coalition
, was accused of practicing entryism in the Liberal Party of Canada
in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Members of Socialist Action, a small Trotskyist group, play a leading role in the New Democratic Party
Socialist Caucus
, a small faction on the left wing of that social democratic
party, and advocate that their members join and engage with the NDP.
After the fall of Social Credit in British Columbia, the British Columbia Liberal Party
saw the shift of former Social Credit members into the BC Liberal party. As a result, the new membership saw the party shift much more towards the right on fiscal policy. In this way, entryism led to a complete takeover of the original party by former Social Credit members. As a result of the more right wing policies of the British Columbia Liberal Party
, the party is now officially separate from its federal counterpart, the Liberal Party of Canada
.
was a fake pro-China
communist party in the Netherlands
set up by the Dutch secret service BVD
to develop contacts with the Chinese government for espionage purposes. It existed from 1968 to the early 1990s.
and Workers Communist League have been accused of taking control of trade unions, using them and anti-nuclear organisations to steer New Zealand foreign policy away from the United States
.
New Zealand's Christian Right also attempted to obtain electoral influence. While the Coalition of Concerned Citizens
infiltrated the National Party
shortly before the 1987 general election
, it met with little success. As a result of this abortive gesture, National quietly centralised its candidate selection procedures.
in the 1950s. This consisted of captured Mau Mau members who switched sides and specially trained British troops who initiated the pseudo-gang concept to successfully counter Mau Mau fighters. In 1960 Frank Kitson
, published Gangs and Counter-gangs, an account of his experiences with the technique in Kenya
; the information included how to counter gangs and measures of deception, including the use of defectors, which brought the issue a wider audience.
As reported in the book Believe What You Like
, from 1969 large numbers of Scientologists
joined the National Association for Mental Health (now Mind) and attempted to ratify as official policy a number of points concerning the treatment of psychiatric patients. When their identity was realised they were expelled from the organisation en masse.
A long-lasting entry tactic was used by the Militant tendency
(a Marxist-Leninist-Trotskyist group), whose members worked within the Labour Party
from the 1960s through the 1980s. During this time, they managed to get a controlling influence in the Labour Party Young Socialists
and Liverpool Council before being expelled in the 1980s. A remnant of the group now operates within the Labour Party as Socialist Appeal
.
The Guardian
columnist, George Monbiot
claims that a group influenced by the defunct Marxist LM
magazine have pursued entryist tactics amongst scientific and media organisations in the UK, since the late 1990s.
in the United States
, some members of the Reform Party
, which had been founded by Ross Perot
, charged that the presidential campaign of Pat Buchanan
was engaging in entryism. However, while a large number of new members did join to support Buchanan, he did not maintain a large separate organisation outside of the Reform Party. It is worth noting that, after the election, much of Buchanan's support did split from the Reform Party, taking several state organizations with them, to form the America First Party
. The America First Party itself was quickly engaged in a controversy involving alleged entryism by supporters of James "Bo" Gritz.
Another example of charges of entryism involving the United States Reform Party involved supporters of Fred Newman
and the New Alliance Party
joining the Reform Party en masse and gaining some level of control over the New York State affiliate of the Reform Party. Another United States politician, Lyndon LaRouche
, has attempted an entryist strategy in the Democratic Party since 1980, but with little success.
The two major parties regularly complain of entryism tactics by the other - however complaints by the Democrats against Republicans are more common, leading to the term 'dirty tricks' being associated with the right wing since the Nixon era
. In 2007 the Republicans settled a lawsuit in New Hampshire with the Democrats after accusation of infiltration. In addition, Republican and Libertarian Party
chapters have complained of takeover by religious or police elements, in one case in Colorado leading to scandal when the charges led to police department shake-ups.
In his book Masters of Deceit, J. Edgar Hoover
described entryist tactics by Soviet
agents to infiltrate school board
s, trade union
s, and major party precinct organizations. Dominionist
televangelist
Pat Robertson
has advocated the use of the same tactics to take control of the same organizations by his followers.
Entryism does not involve dissolving the small organisation into the larger one. Entryism is often (but not always) done secretly and often in organisations run on Leninist
Democratic centralism
Democratic centralism is the name given to the principles of internal organization used by Leninist political parties, and the term is sometimes used as a synonym for any Leninist policy inside a political party...
lines. The strategy of entryism is as old as politics itself.
Trotsky's "French Turn"
The French TurnFrench Turn
The French Turn was the name given to the entry between 1934 and 1936 of the French Trotskyists into the Section Française de l'International Ouvrière...
refers to the classic form of entryism advocated by Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
in his essays on "the French Turn": In June 1934, he proposed that the French Trotskyists dissolve their Communist League to join the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and that it also dissolve its youth section to join more easily with revolutionary elements. The tactic was adopted in August 1934, despite some opposition. The turn successfully raised the group's membership to 300 activists.
Proponents of the tactic advocated that the Trotskyists should enter the social democratic
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
parties to connect with revolutionary socialist currents within them, and steer those currents toward Leninism. However, entry lasted only for a brief period: the leadership of the SFIO started to expel the Trotskyists. The Trotskyists of Workers Party of the United States
Workers Party of the United States
The Workers Party of the United States was established in December 1934 by a merger of the American Workers Party led by A.J. Muste and the Trotskyist Communist League of America led by James P. Cannon. The party was dissolved in 1936 when its members entered the Socialist Party of America en...
also successfully used their entry into the Socialist Party of America
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
to recruit their youth group and other members. Similar tactics were also used by Trotskyist organisations in other countries, including The Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Poland. Entrism was used to connect with and recruit leftward moving political currents inside radical parties.
Since the turn in France, Marxists have used the tactic even if they had different preconceptions of how long the period of entry would last.
- 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 organisation and leaving with more members than it began with.
- The entry tactic can work successfully, in its own terms, over a long period. For example, it was attempted by the Militant tendencyMilitant TendencyThe Militant tendency was an entrist group within the British Labour Party based around the Militant newspaper that was first published in 1964...
in BritainUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
whose members worked within the Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
from the 1960s on and managed to get a controlling influence in the Labour Party Young SocialistsLabour Party Young SocialistsThe Labour Party Young Socialists was the name of the youth section of the British Labour Party from 1965 until 1993. The LPYS was the most successful of the youth sections of the Labour Party in the post war period, at one point having nearly 600 branches and attendances at its national...
and Liverpool Council before being expelled in the 1980s. Many other Trotskyist groups have attempted similar feats but few have gained the influence Militant attained (See Militant's Problems of Entrism pamphlet).
Deep entryism/entryism sui generis
In these types of entryism, entryists engage in a long-term perspective in which they work within an organisation for decades in hopes of gaining influence and a degree of power and perhaps even control of the larger organisation.In entryism sui generis ("of a special type"), Trotskyists, for example, do not openly argue for the building of a Trotskyist party. "Deep entryism" refers to the long duration.
The tactic is closely identified with Michel Pablo
Michel Pablo
Michel Pablo was the pseudonym of Michalis N. Raptis , a Trotskyist leader of Greek origin.- Early activism :...
and Gerry Healy
Gerry Healy
Thomas Gerard Healy, known as Gerry Healy , was a political activist, a co-founder of the International Committee of the Fourth International, and, according to former prominent U.S. supporter David North, the leader of the Trotskyist movement in Great Britain between 1950 – 1985...
, who were leaders of the Fourth International
Fourth International
The Fourth International is the communist international organisation consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky , with the declared dedicated goal of helping the working class bring about socialism...
in the late 1940s and 1950s. The "deep entry" tactic was developed as a way for Trotskyists to respond to the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. In countries where there were mass social democratic or communist parties, it was as difficult to be accepted into these parties as Trotskyist currents as to build separate Trotskyist parties. Therefore Trotskyists were advised to enter secretly, and not to come forward as Trotskyists with their full program.
In Europe, this was the approach used, for example, by The Club
The Club (Trotskyist)
The Club was a Trotskyist group in the United Kingdom. It operated inside the Labour Party and was the official section of the Fourth International from 1950 until 1953 when, after the FI split, it became part of the International Committee of the Fourth International...
in the Labour Party, and by Fourth Internationalists inside the Communist Parties. In France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Trotskyist organizations, most notably the Parti des Travailleurs
Workers' Party (France)
The Workers' Party was a French socialist party. It was formed by the Trotskyist Internationalist Communist Party led by Pierre Boussel, better known under his pseudonym Pierre Lambert, together with a number of other socialists with whom they worked in the Force Ouvrière union...
and its predecessors, have successfully entered trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s and mainstream left-wing parties (see Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...
for a famous example).
Open entryism
Some political parties, such as the Workers' Party in BrazilWorkers' Party (Brazil)
The Workers' Party is a democratic socialist political party in Brazil. Launched in 1980, it is recognized as one of the largest and most important left-wing movements of Latin America. It governs at the federal level in a coalition government with several other parties since January 1, 2003...
or the Scottish Socialist Party
Scottish Socialist Party
The Scottish Socialist Party is a left-wing Scottish political party. Positioning itself significantly to the left of Scotland's centre-left parties, the SSP campaigns on a socialist economic platform and for Scottish independence....
allow political tendencies to openly organise 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 sometimes considered to be entryists by the larger organisation.
On the political Right
Entryism is not an exclusively left-wing phenomenon; it is also found in the far-right entering mainstream right-wing groups, e.g., National FrontBritish National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
infiltration of National Council of Civil Liberties
Liberty (pressure group)
Liberty is a pressure group based in the United Kingdom. Its formal name is the National Council for Civil Liberties . Founded in 1934 by Ronald Kidd and Sylvia Crowther-Smith , the group campaigns to protect civil liberties and promote human rights...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and British National Party
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
members joining the UK Independence Party
United Kingdom Independence Party
The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...
. In the US, the John Birch Society
John Birch Society
The John Birch Society is an American political advocacy group that supports anti-communism, limited government, a Constitutional Republic and personal freedom. It has been described as radical right-wing....
and other groups were accused of entryism when Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
was unexpectedly selected as the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
candidate for US president in the 1964 election. In Australia, the centre-right New South Wales state branch of the Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
was accused of being taken over by a morally conservative group in 2006.
Also in Australia, during the 1970s and 1980s the anti-semitic
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
Australian League of Rights
Australian League of Rights
The Australian League of Rights is a long-lived far right and anti-semitic political organisation in Australia founded by Eric Butler with its basis in the economic theory of Social Credit expounded by C. H. Douglas. It describes itself as upholding the virtues of freedom...
attempted to take over the National Party. Although membership swelled, the number of seats held by the Nationals fell. The One Nation party has been the persistent target of Australian Far Right groups in more recent times.
On national minorities
Entryism can also be used by the police or intelligence services of a state to infiltrate and dissolve nationalist parties considered to jeopardize state unity, even if these abide by the state's legal framework. It can further be used to sabotageSabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
editorials, newspapers and all kinds of media written in minority language
Minority language
A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities.-International politics:...
s seen as undesirable by the central power; as well as Universities, sports unions, language and/or cultural associations representative of a national minority present in a territory. Entryism on national minorities ultimately leads to the winding-up of the economic, social, political and cultural fabric of the minority or autochthonous group and its replacement by state-controlled organizations. The very notion of entryism on national minorities may vary: thus, the 'agent' performing entryism against a local organization may range from an alien duly trained in the language and customs of the minority group, to members of the autochthonous civil society acting under bribery or subject to coercion by the state apparatus.
In Australia
In AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the practice was widespread during the 1950s, where Communists
Communist Party of Australia
The Communist Party of Australia was founded in 1920 and dissolved in 1991; it was succeeded by the Socialist Party of Australia, which then renamed itself, becoming the current Communist Party of Australia. The CPA achieved its greatest political strength in the 1940s and faced an attempted...
battled against right-wing 'Groupers
Industrial Groups
The Industrial Groups were groups formed by the Australian Labor Party in the late 1940s, to combat Communist Party influence in the trade unions....
', for control of Australian trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s. The Groupers subsequently formed the Democratic Labor Party
Democratic Labor Party
The Democratic Labor Party is a political party in Australia that espouses social conservatism and opposes neo-liberalism. The first "DLP" Senator in decades, party vice-president John Madigan was elected to the Australian Senate with 2.3 percent of the primary vote in Victoria at the 2010 federal...
. Today the practice in Australia is often known as a type of branch stacking
Branch stacking
Branch stacking is the act of recruiting members for a branch of a political party for the principal purpose of influencing the outcome of internal preselections of candidates for public office...
.
In recent times RSPCA Australia
RSPCA Australia
RSPCA Australia is an Australian organisation that promotes animal welfare. It is funded in part by the Australian Government but relies on corporate sponsorship, fundraising events and voluntary donations for its income.RSPCA Australia defines its purpose as being the leading authority in animal...
has been described as being the victims of the practice. The National Farmers' Federation
National Farmers' Federation
The National Farmers' Federation is an Australian industry association that represents Australian farmers at a national level, including through lobbying the Australian Government...
and Animals Australia have each been accused of infiltrating branches of RSPCA Australia
RSPCA Australia
RSPCA Australia is an Australian organisation that promotes animal welfare. It is funded in part by the Australian Government but relies on corporate sponsorship, fundraising events and voluntary donations for its income.RSPCA Australia defines its purpose as being the leading authority in animal...
in an attempt to promote opposing policies concerning battery hens, intensive pig farming
Intensive pig farming
Intensive piggeries are a type of factory farm ' specialized in the raising of domestic pigs up to slaughter weight...
, and the live export
Live export
Live export is the transport of living farm animals usually across either state or national borders.Animal charities say that thousands of animals die en route from disease, heat exhaustion, thirst, suffocation, and crush injuries. The National Hog Farmer reports that 420,000 pigs are crippled and...
of sheep.
In Canada
Although the term entryism was used little if at all, opponents accused David OrchardDavid Orchard
David Orchard is a Canadian political figure, member of the Liberal Party of Canada, who was the Liberal Party candidate for the Saskatchewan riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River in the 2008 federal election.Previously, Orchard was a member of the now defunct Progressive Conservative...
and his supporters of attempting to win the leadership of the former Progressive Conservative Party
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the intention of dramatically changing its policies.
Orchard had made his name as a leading opponent of free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
, which was perhaps the singular signature policy of the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
in the late 1980s and early 1990s. While opponents pointed to this remarkable distance, Orchard and his supporters argued that they represented "traditional" Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
values and economic nationalism that the older Conservative Party
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...
, and the Progressive Conservative party before Mulroney, had espoused, namely that of John Diefenbaker
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...
.
Opponents of the 2003 merger between the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties also charged Alliance members with entryism. It was widely speculated that most, if not all of the approximately 25,000 Canadians who swelled the PC Party's membership before the merger vote were Alliance members. They would likely have voted in favour of the merger.
Liberals for Life
Liberals for Life
Liberals for Life was a pro-life advocacy group that worked within the Liberal Party of Canada during the 1980s and early 1990s. Some of its members were also affiliated with the Campaign Life Coalition, and, as such, the group was often accused of entryism....
, a pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
group allied with the Campaign Life Coalition
Campaign Life Coalition
The Campaign Life Coalition is a Canadian conservative Christian pro-life group. It is based in Toronto, Ontario...
, was accused of practicing entryism in the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Members of Socialist Action, a small Trotskyist group, play a leading role in the New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
Socialist Caucus
New Democratic Party Socialist Caucus
The New Democratic Party Socialist Caucus is an unofficial left-wing faction within Canada's New Democratic Party. Its manifesto maintains that the New Democratic Party has moved too far to the right, and is in danger of becoming indistinguishable from the Liberal Party...
, a small faction on the left wing of that social democratic
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
party, and advocate that their members join and engage with the NDP.
After the fall of Social Credit in British Columbia, the British Columbia Liberal Party
British Columbia Liberal Party
The British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...
saw the shift of former Social Credit members into the BC Liberal party. As a result, the new membership saw the party shift much more towards the right on fiscal policy. In this way, entryism led to a complete takeover of the original party by former Social Credit members. As a result of the more right wing policies of the British Columbia Liberal Party
British Columbia Liberal Party
The British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...
, the party is now officially separate from its federal counterpart, the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
.
In the Netherlands
The Marxist-Leninist Party of the NetherlandsMarxist-Leninist Party of the Netherlands
The Marxist-Leninist Party of the Netherlands was a fake pro-China communist party in the Netherlands set up by the Dutch secret service BVD to develop contacts with the Chinese government for espionage purposes. It existed from 1968 to the early 1990s...
was a fake pro-China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
communist party in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
set up by the Dutch secret service BVD
General Intelligence and Security Service
Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst , formerly known as the BVD is the General Intelligence and Security Service or The Secret service of the Netherlands. The office is in Zoetermeer...
to develop contacts with the Chinese government for espionage purposes. It existed from 1968 to the early 1990s.
In New Zealand
The Socialist Unity PartySocialist Unity Party (New Zealand)
The Socialist Unity Party was one of the better-known communist parties in New Zealand. It had a certain amount of influence in the trade union movement, but never won seats in Parliament....
and Workers Communist League have been accused of taking control of trade unions, using them and anti-nuclear organisations to steer New Zealand foreign policy away from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
New Zealand's Christian Right also attempted to obtain electoral influence. While the Coalition of Concerned Citizens
Coalition of Concerned Citizens
The Coalition of Concerned Citizens was a New Zealand Christian conservative pressure group, and one of several attempts to form pro-censorship, anti-abortion, anti-gay and sex education opponents into a comprehensive social conservative political coalition...
infiltrated the National Party
New Zealand National Party
The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...
shortly before the 1987 general election
New Zealand general election, 1987
The 1987 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the 43rd sitting of the New Zealand Parliament. The governing New Zealand Labour Party, led by Prime Minister David Lange, was re-elected for a second term, although the Opposition National Party made gains...
, it met with little success. As a result of this abortive gesture, National quietly centralised its candidate selection procedures.
In the United Kingdom
Entryism was used by British army forces during the Mau Mau uprisingMau Mau Uprising
The Mau Mau Uprising was a military conflict that took place in Kenya between 1952 and 1960...
in the 1950s. This consisted of captured Mau Mau members who switched sides and specially trained British troops who initiated the pseudo-gang concept to successfully counter Mau Mau fighters. In 1960 Frank Kitson
Frank Kitson
General Sir Frank Edward Kitson GBE, KCB, MC and Bar, DL is a retired British Army officer and writer on military subjects, notably low intensity operations...
, published Gangs and Counter-gangs, an account of his experiences with the technique in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
; the information included how to counter gangs and measures of deception, including the use of defectors, which brought the issue a wider audience.
As reported in the book Believe What You Like
Believe What You Like
Believe What You Like: What happened between the Scientologists and the National Association for Mental Health authored by New Statesman director C. R. Hewitt under the pen name C. H...
, from 1969 large numbers of Scientologists
Scientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
joined the National Association for Mental Health (now Mind) and attempted to ratify as official policy a number of points concerning the treatment of psychiatric patients. When their identity was realised they were expelled from the organisation en masse.
A long-lasting entry tactic was used by the Militant tendency
Militant Tendency
The Militant tendency was an entrist group within the British Labour Party based around the Militant newspaper that was first published in 1964...
(a Marxist-Leninist-Trotskyist group), whose members worked within the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
from the 1960s through the 1980s. During this time, they managed to get a controlling influence in the Labour Party Young Socialists
Labour Party Young Socialists
The Labour Party Young Socialists was the name of the youth section of the British Labour Party from 1965 until 1993. The LPYS was the most successful of the youth sections of the Labour Party in the post war period, at one point having nearly 600 branches and attendances at its national...
and Liverpool Council before being expelled in the 1980s. A remnant of the group now operates within the Labour Party as Socialist Appeal
Socialist Appeal
Socialist Appeal is the publication of a British Trotskyist organisation operating within the Labour Party which was founded by Ted Grant and Alan Woods after they were expelled from the Militant tendency. The organisation is popularly known as the Socialist Appeal group, and publishes a monthly...
.
The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
columnist, George Monbiot
George Monbiot
George Joshua Richard Monbiot is an English writer, known for his environmental and political activism. He lives in Machynlleth, Wales, writes a weekly column for The Guardian, and is the author of a number of books, including Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain and Bring on the...
claims that a group influenced by the defunct Marxist LM
Living Marxism
Living Marxism was a British magazine, originally launched in 1988 as the journal of the British Revolutionary Communist Party . It was later rebranded as LM and folded in March 2000 following an adverse ruling in a libel lawsuit brought by the British news corporation, Independent Television News...
magazine have pursued entryist tactics amongst scientific and media organisations in the UK, since the late 1990s.
In the United States
During the 2000 presidential electionUnited States presidential election, 2000
The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, some members of the Reform Party
Reform Party of the United States of America
The Reform Party of the United States of America is a political party in the United States, founded in 1995 by Ross Perot...
, which had been founded by Ross Perot
Ross Perot
Henry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...
, charged that the presidential campaign of Pat Buchanan
Pat Buchanan
Patrick Joseph "Pat" Buchanan is an American paleoconservative political commentator, author, syndicated columnist, politician and broadcaster. Buchanan was a senior adviser to American Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan, and was an original host on CNN's Crossfire. He sought...
was engaging in entryism. However, while a large number of new members did join to support Buchanan, he did not maintain a large separate organisation outside of the Reform Party. It is worth noting that, after the election, much of Buchanan's support did split from the Reform Party, taking several state organizations with them, to form the America First Party
America First Party (2002)
The America First Party is a paleoconservative third party in the United States.The party was formed in 2002 when a group of Pat Buchanan supporters left the Reform Party. The party is pro-life, opposes all gun control, seeks to end affirmative action, racial quotas, and illegal and unlimited...
. The America First Party itself was quickly engaged in a controversy involving alleged entryism by supporters of James "Bo" Gritz.
Another example of charges of entryism involving the United States Reform Party involved supporters of Fred Newman
Fred Newman
Frederick Delano "Fred" Newman was an American philosopher, psychotherapist, playwright and political activist, and creator of a therapeutic modality called Social Therapy.-Early life:...
and the New Alliance Party
New Alliance Party
The New Alliance Party was an American political party formed in New York City in 1979. Its immediate precursor was an umbrella organization known as the Labor Community Alliance for Change, whose member groups included the coalition of Grass Roots Women and the New York City Unemployed and...
joining the Reform Party en masse and gaining some level of control over the New York State affiliate of the Reform Party. Another United States politician, Lyndon LaRouche
Lyndon LaRouche
Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche, Jr. is an American political activist and founder of a network of political committees, parties, and publications known collectively as the LaRouche movement...
, has attempted an entryist strategy in the Democratic Party since 1980, but with little success.
The two major parties regularly complain of entryism tactics by the other - however complaints by the Democrats against Republicans are more common, leading to the term 'dirty tricks' being associated with the right wing since the Nixon era
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
. In 2007 the Republicans settled a lawsuit in New Hampshire with the Democrats after accusation of infiltration. In addition, Republican and Libertarian Party
Libertarian Party (United States)
The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
chapters have complained of takeover by religious or police elements, in one case in Colorado leading to scandal when the charges led to police department shake-ups.
In his book Masters of Deceit, J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
described entryist tactics by Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
agents to infiltrate school board
Board of education
A board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or higher administrative level....
s, trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s, and major party precinct organizations. Dominionist
Dominionism
Dominionism is a term used to describe politically active conservative Christians that are believed to conspire and seek influence or control over secular civil government through political action, especially in the United States, with the goal of either a nation governed by Christians, or a nation...
televangelist
Televangelism
Televangelism is the use of television to communicate the Christian faith. The word is a portmanteau of television and evangelism and was coined by Time magazine. A “televangelist” is a Christian minister who devotes a large portion of his ministry to television broadcasting...
Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....
has advocated the use of the same tactics to take control of the same organizations by his followers.
External links
- "Problems of Entrism" by Ted GrantTed GrantEdward "Ted" Grant , 9 July 1913 in Germiston, South Africa – 20 July 2006 in London) was a South African Trotskyist who spent most of his adult life in Britain...
with an introduction by Peter TaaffePeter TaaffePeter Taaffe is the general secretary of the Socialist Party of England and Wales SPEW and member of the International Executive Committee of the Committee for a Workers International , which claims sections in over 35 countries around the world.Taaffe was founding editor of the Marxist Militant...
and various writings by Leon TrotskyLeon TrotskyLeon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
as published in a Militant tendencyMilitant TendencyThe Militant tendency was an entrist group within the British Labour Party based around the Militant newspaper that was first published in 1964...
booklet.