Can you help me to understand the meaning of the paragraph?

[captain1]

Please, I don't understand the meaning, can you help me? to under this para:

"While the modern state is separated from society in respect of the emergence of a public power
from pre-existing patrimonial regimes, from an administrative or surveillance point of view,
pre-modern states and their rulers were far more separated from their societies than are their modern counterparts"

I don't understand this:
#Is the modern state more separated than patrimonial regimes but the modern state is not more separated from their societies than pre-modern?


For the administrators, this is not homework!! and this is not for a grade,Simply want to understand the meaning of the para because I can't understand the grammar here.

Thank you

 

[SoothingDave]

It's not a very good sentence.

If you think about "the emergence of a public power" (whatever that means), then the modern state is more separated than "pre-existing patrimonial regimes."

If you think about "administrative or surveillance point of view" then the modern state is less separated than the old regimes.

In other words, you are much less likely today to have any sort of connection to your elected representative or president than a serf would have had with his lord or king. But the king would be much less concerned with regulating your existence or knowing all about your actions.

The king may have had the power of life and death over his subjects, but he didn't concern himself with how the average person lived his life. Compare to today's "lords" who regulate every aspect of our lives, from the fuel economy of our cars to the number of gallons used to flush our toilets.

 

[captain1]

Thank you so much!! your reply helped me a lot!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!;-)

 

[Rover_KE]

There is no need to write a new post just to say "Thank you" or to quote our replies back to us. It makes us think there is new information or a follow-up question and we spend time opening the thread. Simply click on the "Thank" button at the bottom left-hand corner of any post you find helpful. It saves everybody's time.

Additionally, please note that a better title would have been The emergence of a public power.

Extract from the Posting Guidelines:

'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'