They're two different things, although they are closely related they are distinctly different. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_compass https://en.wi

They're two different things, although they are closely related they are distinctly different. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_compass https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_compass EDIT: Essentially "socialism" is an economic status, while Authoritarianism deals with social freedoms. Historically most "communist" societies are also Authoritarian, but that's not always the case.