What is a Lottery?

A lottery is a process for allocating prizes, or the distribution of items of value. The term is usually applied to state-run lotteries, although private lotteries are common as well. In the United States, for example, there are state-run lotteries in 44 of its 50 states (the exceptions are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and Wyoming). The prize allocation process is based on chance, so the odds of winning vary between different types of lottery.

A key element in the arrangement is the drawing, a procedure for selecting winners. The tickets or their counterfoils are thoroughly mixed by a mechanical means such as shaking or tossing, and then drawn in a random manner; computer-based methods have become increasingly popular for this purpose. This is done to ensure that chance and only chance determines the selection of winners.

While Cohen nods to lottery’s history, he focuses chiefly on its modern incarnation. This began, he argues, when growing awareness of the money to be made in the gambling business collided with a crisis in state funding. As populations grew and inflation accelerated, the old national promise that hard work would provide for life’s necessities eroded; balancing budgets became impossible without either raising taxes or cutting services, both of which were unpopular with voters.

As a result, state governments turned to lotteries for “painless” revenue. Lottery profits develop extensive constituencies that include convenience store operators; lottery suppliers (with their heavy contributions to state political campaigns); teachers, in those states where the revenue is earmarked for education; and state legislators themselves, who become accustomed to a steady flow of easy money.