ECO 315 Spring 2015

Examples of Exam Questions

How to use this information? These are examples of questions I might ask. Some are taken from past
exams. Others are new. The exam will probably have two questions from each topic. Spend as much or as
little time as you like answering these questions. We will not review them in class. Before the exam I will
provide examples of answers to some of these questions. Some questions are very specific, others are open
ended. For all the questions you should do two things (1) make sure you answer the questions (2) provide as
much context and support for your answer as possible (so you might want to give a definition for SMORC if
the question is about SMORC policy). I also highly recommend that you try to write your own questions.
Writing a good question requires that you have a good understanding of the subject, which means you should
perform better on the exam.
From our first topic:
Consider a problem such as Costumed Characters in Times Square harassing tourists for money. Give
examples of a SMORC policy, a Behavioral policy and a CMORC policy (either version) to deter this
problematic behavior. What distinguishes each policy?
Consider a problem such as urinating on the subway platform. Give examples of a SMORC policy, a
Behavioral policy and a CMORC policy (either version) to deter this problematic behavior. What
distinguishes each policy?
Consider a problem such as cheating on taxes by over-reporting deductible expenses. Give examples of a
SMORC policy, a Behavioral policy and a CMORC policy (either version) to deter this problematic
behavior. What distinguishes each policy?
Can Dan Arielys approach to investigating dishonesty be extended to crimes such as assault and rape?
How is Gary Beckers approach to explaining crime both powerful and dangerous?
Why are politicians attracted to policing policies based on SMORC?

From topic 2:
If labor unions serve as a form of policing over workers, why is one of the hallmarks of the neoliberal e ra
the practice of union busting? What do the owners (capital) gain and lose when unions are busted?
If we accept the premise that modern policing was shaped by class struggle into an institution that serves the
owners by protecting private property but does not serve workers by protecting them from harms in the work
place, then what about the court system? What about the penal system?
1

If the police served the interests of the working class instead of the owning class, how would their jobs be the
same and how would they be different?
Read the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/us/taping-of-farm-cruelty-is-becoming-thecrime.html?_r=0
How is this an example of a class struggle explanation for the development of police and the law. How
would the mainstream common good theory of CJS development defend such practices?

From topic 3
When I was in graduate school at UC Riverside the chancellor wanted to make our campus look and feel like
the top UC schools; Berkeley and UCLA. While our campus was larger than both of the others combined we
did not have the same kind of free shuttle service as these elite institutions. Of course there was no money for
such a project so he instigated a plan to pay for the shuttle with the fines generated by parking tickets. The
campus police soon earned the nickname of the parking Nazis. Suppose John Jay College wanted to earn
revenue by issuing tickets for J-walking near the school. Would this work to raise revenue? Would this
work to make the streets safer? What would Dan Ariely think of this policy? What are the social
consequences of this policy?
Why does Christian Parenti believe the concept of crisis an important component of the story behind
disproportional incarceration of African American and Hispanic Americans?
How do you think a mainstream economist would explain the disproportionate incarceration of African
Americans and Hispanic Americans? What kind of data would they use to test these theories?
What are the indirect effects of incarceration on crime and criminal justice?
What are the non criminal justice aspects of incarceration? What does incarceration do to the rest of society?
Recently the NYPD went on a Blue Flu to protest to Mayor de Blasios attitude toward the NYPD. A
Blue Flu is an unauthorized work action where officers wither dont report for duty and use their sick leave
or they show up to work buy not longer engage in routing activities such as writing tickets (they do respond
to reports of violence). The crime rate may have gone down (its hard to tell because many crime statistics
are affected by a work slowdown) but the city certainly experienced a drop in revenue. Write a question
about how this story reflects class struggle. Then answer your question.
The US Justice Department recently produced a report about law enforcement in Ferguson Missouri and its
neighboring communities. The report cited reliance on fines for municipal government fiancs as a source of
tension between the community and the police. How is this a story of class struggle? How is the class
struggle hidden?