Early British administrators and subsequent Indian nationalist economists like R.C. Dutt, who commented on British policies in India, in spite of their opposing views shared certain common assumptions. Both viewed the colonial state as a monolithic entity which had the power to effect transformations Indian society if it chose to.
Following from this assumption it was logical to focus on the upper levels of the state machinery to understand the direction and nature of state policy. Later, Marxist writers such as Rajni Palme Dutt in their study of British policy formulation focused on the requirements of the metropolitan economy.
Another noticeable steam in the historiography of this subject has focused on the multiple ideological influences on colonial policy makers as the dominant determinant of policy formulation. More recent studies at the regional and district levels have tried to counter the earlier preoccupation with the monolithic colonia state as the prime variable in the framing of policies. These works attribute great significance to local power configurations in determining the outcome of state polices.