A competition based on chance, in which numbered tickets are sold and prizes are given to the holders of numbers drawn at random; often conducted by a state or a charitable organization as a means of raising money. Lottery is also used as a noun to refer to the process of selecting people for jobs, education, or other honors by chance. The casting of lots to decide such matters has a long record, with several instances in the Bible and other ancient sources; the use of a lottery for material gain is much more recent.
The first state lottery was established in New Hampshire in 1964; the others followed suit soon afterward. They all follow a similar pattern: the state legislates a monopoly for itself; establishes a public agency or corporation to run the lottery (rather than licensing a private firm in exchange for a share of the profits); begins operations with a modest number of relatively simple games; and, under pressure from constant demands for additional revenues, progressively expands the lottery in size and complexity, particularly by adding more games.
To keep ticket sales robust, state lotteries must pay out a respectable percentage of sales in prizes. This reduces the amount of revenue available to the states for things like education, which is the ostensible reason that they adopt lotteries in the first place. In an era where many people oppose higher taxes, the state’s choice to tax itself in this way does not always generate strong popular support.
In addition to reducing the availability of educational opportunities, state lotteries may promote an unhealthy pattern of gambling. They may also encourage people who would not otherwise gamble to do so by offering more attractive prizes, such as large jackpots. They can even lead to a sense of inevitability in which people feel that they will win, and so continue to play, regardless of their financial circumstances.
There are numerous arguments for and against state lotteries, but two factors seem most critical to their adoption: a states’ need for revenue, and the belief that lottery proceeds are “painless” taxes. While the latter argument has proven persuasive in many cases, it is not always true. The fact is that while the vast majority of lottery players are not wealthy, they do spend a substantial portion of their incomes on tickets. Lotteries are thus regressive in the ways they affect the poor, and can obscure the regressivity by promoting the image that playing is just fun and harmless.
