In the United States and elsewhere, people pay for a ticket, select a group of numbers, or have machines randomly spit them out, hoping to win one of many prizes. Some of the prize money is in the form of cash. But much of it is in the form of goods and services, such as units in a subsidized housing block or kindergarten placements at a public school. Despite the gloomy financial backdrop and a growing sense of inequality, state lotteries continue to grow rapidly, even as critics charge that lottery advertising is often deceptive and misleading.
Making decisions or determining fates by casting lots has a long history in human society, and the lottery was a popular way for people to try their luck at material gain in colonial-era America. George Washington sponsored a lottery in 1768 to raise money for a road over the Blue Ridge Mountains, and rare tickets bearing his signature are valuable collectors’ items today. Lotteries have also raised money for a wide range of other projects, including paving streets, building churches, and purchasing cannons for the city of Philadelphia.
The word “lottery” is probably derived from the Dutch noun lot, meaning fate or fortune. The first known public lotteries were in the Low Countries during the 15th century. The towns of Ghent, Bruges, and Utrecht raised money to build town fortifications and help the poor by selling tickets.
After World War II, lottery revenues became a powerful tool for state governments to expand a wide range of services without raising especially onerous taxes on the middle and working classes. Since then, the growth of the industry has accelerated. This has led to expansion into new games, such as video poker and keno, and increased promotion, including television commercials and billboards.
While the popularity of lotteries has grown, so has the number of people who oppose them. A growing sense of inequality has contributed to the opposition, as some people argue that winning the lottery undermines the value of hard work and social mobility. Others say it’s just a waste of money.
In the United States, there are a few states that have not legalized the lottery, but most authorize it by statute. In most cases, the legislative and executive branches are responsible for lottery oversight, with little or no unified policy direction. This arrangement gives lottery officials little or no general overview of the industry, and public welfare considerations are taken into account only intermittently.
