The History of the Lottery

lottery

The lottery is a game in which you pay for a chance to win something, usually money or a prize such as jewelry or a car. Federal law prohibits mailing promotions for lotteries and the shipment of tickets by mail or over interstate or international lines, but state laws may provide exceptions.

In the modern era, lotteries grew out of state-sponsored public games of chance that began in Europe during the Renaissance.1

These early lotteries were organized as traditional raffles in which the public would buy tickets and have a chance to win prizes that could range from fine dinnerware to expensive furnishings. The raffles were popular with the public, despite the fact that they often required considerable patience and a willingness to wait for a prize that might be weeks or months away.

The introduction of state-run lotteries grew out of a desire for new sources of revenue to help fund education, veterans’ health programs and other public services without imposing additional taxes on the middle class. Despite the initial negative public response, state lotteries enjoy broad popular support and the revenues from lotteries are a critical source of funding for many public services.

State lotteries are generally characterized by the fact that they grow at a rapid pace in their early years, then tend to level off and even decline over time. This ebb and flow of revenue growth has prompted state officials to continually introduce new games in an attempt to maintain or increase revenue levels. In this way, lotteries are a classic example of policy making by piecemeal increments rather than through the development of a comprehensive government-wide framework.

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