Lottery, the practice of determining fates and distributions by drawing lots, has been around for centuries. The Old Testament instructs Moses to divide land by lot, and Roman emperors used it to give away property and slaves. In the 15th century, towns in the Low Countries held public lotteries to raise funds for town fortifications and the poor.

By the 1770s, lottery games were common in the American colonies, and Benjamin Franklin organized a lottery to fund cannons to defend Philadelphia from the British. After the revolution, state governments established a number of larger public lotteries to provide funding for public works and education. Privately organized lotteries were also popular. They were seen as mechanisms for collecting voluntary taxes and helped build Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale, and other colleges.

The popularity of lotteries reflects the inextricable human desire to gamble and to win. And in an era of limited social mobility, many people feel that winning the lottery is their only shot at wealth. The big issue is how to manage an industry that profits from and promotes gambling, especially when the government at all levels becomes dependent on it.

When state officials make policy, they have to balance the interests of lotteries with other public goals. They also face pressure to increase revenues. And because lottery advertising necessarily focuses on attracting specific groups, it can produce problems like compulsive gambling and a regressive impact on low-income populations. Moreover, the fact that lottery policies are often set up piecemeal means that state officials must constantly reevaluate and adjust them.