Socialism, no matter its form or incarnation, is on the Left side of the spectrum by its nature. How it is accomplished does not change its Left vs Right axis, only its Authoritarian vs Liberty axis. Adolf Hitler is to national socialism what Bernie Sanders is to democratic socialism; their means and objectives are different, as are their paths, but they share many crux concepts of socialism. In the end, it is still socialism, just as the little discussed Mussolini was a staunch socialist who expanded into fascism.

Communism under Lenin or Stalin were anything but [i]actual[/i] communism as envisioned by Karl Marx, yet they are still forms of communism, executed from the eyes of those in power. This does not mean they are any less communist, just another deviation there of.

As an addition for comparison, the United States is a constitutional republic. It is not any less a republic because it is a constitutional, federal, presidential republic.