Authoritarian socialism, or socialism from above,[1] is an economic and political system supporting some form of socialist economics while rejecting political liberalism. As a term, it represents a set of economic-political systems describing themselves as socialist and rejecting the liberal-democratic concepts of multi-party politics, freedom of assembly, habeas corpus and freedom of expression, whether due to fear of the counter-revolution or as a means to socialist ends. Several countries, most notably the Soviet Union, China and their allies, have been described by journalists and scholars as authoritarian socialist states.
President Johnson encouraged former Confederate states to reject the Fourteenth Amendment and he also fired several military commanders who support radical Reconstruction.
