Machines offer tidy models of phenomena for mechanistic theorists. It is common among social theorists to refer to 'mechanisms of change'.
Machines serve a designated function and operate strictly according to cause and effect.
Within the context of their mechanisms, causes are explicit and intentional and consequences are predictable. Machines are characterized by their relentless and rigid regularity. They are assembled from parts and can be analysed or disassembled into them. A machine like a clock, once it is initiated, is autonomous in the sense that it can run independently of human intervention for long periods, but it does not select its own goal. Mechanistic models have obvious deficiencies when applied to social phenomena.