 Legalists shared the conviction of most other political theorists of the Warring States period: stability and orderly rule in either the individual state or “All-under-Heaven” can be attained only under an omnipotent monarch. They added a few new dimensions to this overarching monarchistic discourse. For instance, in Shang Yang’s model of state formation, the establishment of the ruler is presented—in contrast to Mozi (see the section on Political Theory in the entry on  Mohism)—not  as a starting point, but as the crowning stage of sociopolitical evolution, the final and singularly important step toward stability. The ruler is the only person who represents common interests of the polity (gong 公, “commonality,” actually is an identical word to “the lord”; cf. Goldin 2013: 3–4). As such, his power is conceived not as the means of personal enjoyment but as the common interest of his subjects. Shen Dao elaborates: