Law and discipline: The bases of the compliance to law in modern society

In modern society, law appears to be an envisagement of a rational organization. Modern society could be identified with some characteristics such as capitalistic relations of production, industrial development, surveillance and centralized political power. Modern society could be distinguished from traditional society based on ethics and in which the law is not an instrument for governing.The modern society which is differentiated from traditional one also has a law system which has a different meaning, form and purpose. The modern state keeps society under perpetual surveillance and interpenetrates almost every part of it. In contrast with the traditional society which does not pay attention to the personal life of the individual, modern state as a rational organization in modern society establishes effective control mechanisms on both bodies and personalities of individuals via discipline. Furthermore, when these disciplining mechanisms are established for once this mechanism transforms to a self-discipline or self-control mechanism where the individual practices on himself. Hence the efficiency of the rational organization could only be maximized by autochthonously dependence of individual to the rationality of organization. Discipline is the technology of this autochthonously dependence for the maximum efficiency of the legal order.The compliance to the law as a multifaceted problem could not be understood by only analyzing the image of the society in positive law. The personal features gained through history and society, regarding the links of individual with morals and society, have to be taken into account.Keywords: Modern Society, Traditional Society, Law, Discipline, Compliance, Rationality