English to German Social Sciences Government / Politics

The Chinese had built the largest bureaucracy with more administrative law and social policies than any other central government—and on spatial and demographic scales well beyond those of early modern European states. Even so, there were limits on the capacities of the Chinese bureaucratic state to maintain a routine presence across society that also hampered all states seeking to control their *environments*.

Meine Übersetzungsidee: ... Trotz alledem hatte die Fähigkeit des chinesischen Bürokratiestaats, routinemäßig in der gesamten Gesellschaft präsent zu sein, genauso ihre Grenzen wie die aller anderen Staaten, die ihre *Gesellschaften/ Rahmenbedingungen* zu kontrollieren suchten.
Kommt "Gesellschaften" hier für "environment" hin?