Problems associated with the "urban machine" were that they were undemocratic and were corrupt. They moved the political system to allow candidates to win based upon vote-buying, coercion, and other corrupt methods. They were therefore effective or ineffective depending on the relationship you had with the machine and also whether or not you wanted to see a democratic system or not.
The early 1800s is the pre-industrial era in Europe. The answer would be A. The Roman Empire because by the 1800s, the Roman Empire had a complicated network of coastal shipping and roads with large cities by the Mediterranean and they traded with India and China for goods.
I think the answer might be C? Sorry if that's incorrect.
