PART I (15%)
(Write approx. 150 words)
Analyze Salvatore Lupo’s account of the perverse effects of Prohibition.
(Present such perverse effects and explain whether or not you agree with its conclusions)
PART II (60%)
Answer as required (highlight the multiple choice or respond to the open answer)
• What theories did not help the fight against the American Mafia in its early developments?
1. Theories that considered the Mafia a mix of protection and extortion
2. The theories according to which the Mafia is just behavior in defense of tradition
3. Conspiracy theories according to which the Mafia was a foreign plot against America
4. All of the above
5. None of the above
• What did the 1909 assassination of the most successful NYP agent, Joe Petrosino, primarily demonstrated?
1. That a higher degree of mutual trust between American and Italian authorities would have been advisable
2. That the early NY Mafia was ready to kill anyone who dared to oppose their power
3. That Petrosino was one of the agents who was not corrupt, which was the main reason why he was assassinated
4. That a criminal link between Sicily and the US did not exist in the early years of the 20thcentury, although such link began shortly after
• Why, in the early 20th century, was the Mafia successful on both sides of the Atlantic even though operating in such different societies as the American and the Italian according to the assigned reading?
1. Because of the efficacy of the protection/extortion method, which worked well in Sicily as in NYC and other American cities
2. Because, both in the US and Italy, there was a vacuum that the law could not fill
3. Because forms of prohibition, and thus illegal markets, existed both in the US and Italy
4. Because both societies, although in different ways, presented corruption-related dynamics that the Mafia could take advantage of
• What were “human meat butchers” and “men of honor” in Train’s account?
1. Practically the same thing
2. Two faces of the same coin, as the former were often working on behalf of the latter
3. Partly coinciding: the men of honor had more power, but he could also be a “human meat butcher” if necessary
4. Two opposites
• What created the most favorable condition for the expansion of the Mafia in America according to the assigned reading by S. Lupo?
1. Some crimes – such as, for example, gambling and vice-related crimes – were not considered as bad as other crimes (murder, robbery, etc.)
2. The corruption of American police
3. The ethnic leaders, most of whom were often also Mafia bosses, developed a very consistent power within Italian communities, since the very beginning.
4. The corruption of American police and politicians alike
• What of the following cannot be considered as labor racketeering?
1. Extortion of employers by sabotage
2. Extortion of employers by work stoppage
3. Embezzlement from the union and its pension and welfare funds
4. Maintenance of illegal employer cartels obtained by sabotaging businesses that are part of the Mafia-controlled cartel
5. Soliciting and receiving bribes from employers for ‘labor peace’
6. All of the above
7. None of the above
• How did Mafia’s control over the unions begin?
1. Gangsters were hired by workers to fight against employers
2. Gangsters were hired by the employers to fight against the workers
3. Both of the above
4. Gangsters were able to infiltrate the Teamsters and to control this union for decades
5. When the Mafia began to control ports in the United States
6. None of the above. If so, explain how such control began.
• Controlling labor unions translated into political power for the Mafia
1. True, for the quite simple reason that the Mafia was able to have their politicians elected as leaders of the unions
2. False, the Mafia was able to get some sort of political power in the US only beginning with the 1950s
3. False, for the obvious reason that such control only translated into financial power for the Mafia (by extorting both employers and workers)
4. True, because the Mafia began to finance political candidates, mostly at a state level
5. True, because the Mafia began to finance political candidates especially, mostly at a national level, having therefore quite a considerable influence in the life of the nation, which is precisely why the Mafia became so famous and powerful in the US
• According to Jacob and Peters’ analysis, Mafia extortion…
1. Did not present any advantage for employers who constantly had to cope with slowdowns, sabotages, strikes and all of the sort; thus, it was an advantage only for the Mafia that could make considerable profits by extorting employers
2. Was an advantage for the Mafia as well as for the workers, who finally had their rights protected in a much more effective way than it would be without the presence of the Mafia, which is precisely the principal social function exercised by the Mafia in the US
3. Was an advantage also for the employers. If so, explain why
4. Was an advantage for all: employers, Mafia, and workers. If so, explain why
• What was the main strategic reason why the Mafia considered crucial to control transportation unions such as the ILA and the TEAMSTERS?
• What was the social function of the early American Mafia according to Daniel Bell?
• How the Mafia was able to reach control over the gambling industry in Atlantic city in spite of all the efforts made by the NJ authorities to prevent Mafia infiltration in the gambling industry?
PART III (25%)
(Write approx. 250 words)
Analyze how the Mafia was able to reach a substantial control of labor unions in the United States and how such control translated into both financial and political power for the Mafia.
(In your analysis address the following topics:
• Why the employers did often consider Mafia-run unions to be an advantage for themselves
• The methods that the Mafia used to get control of unions and the forms of labor racketeering used by the Mafia to make illegal profits
• The US government’s efforts to combat Mafia’s infiltration of labor unions and the results of these efforts. Present both the law enforcements agencies’ shortcomings and positive results and focus on the conditions that made it possible to reach positive results in the fight against the Mafia from the early 1980s onwards.)