Amongst the central questions being discussed at IDS is 'dependence'. This used to be thought of mainly in economic terms. One reason for this was the realization in former colonies that political independence had a limited significance so long as the economy was tied closely to that of the former colonial power and other industrial countries. The emphasis on economic factors was reinforced by the dominance of economics within the social sciences, due (apparently) to an analytical framework which permitted extensive quantification of variables and their elaborate manipulation. Another influence was the Marxist theory that the economic base of a society determines other phenomena, which form the 'super-structure'.'