A lottery is a game in which numbers are drawn and the people with tickets containing those numbers win a prize. The size of the prize depends on how many of the chosen numbers match those on the ticket. It is a form of gambling, and it can be a source of fun for people who don’t normally gamble. It is often compared to a raffle, though it differs in that there are usually many numbers in a lottery, and in a lottery you can win multiple prizes by matching more than one number.
The first recorded lotteries were in the Low Countries in the fifteenth century, where they raised money for town fortifications and to help poor people. In colonial America, they played an important role in financing private and public ventures, including roads, libraries, churches, canals, colleges, and even wars.
By the late twentieth century, states facing financial crises began to turn to lotteries in search of a way to maintain services without raising taxes and angering voters. As Cohen writes, “Lotteries seemed to offer the perfect solution: a hidden tax that would raise hundreds of millions of dollars for state coffers.”
But critics saw an ulterior motive in these new initiatives. Those in favor of selling the tickets argued that, because so many people were going to gamble anyway, government should take some of the profits. (This argument has its limitations, but it allowed lottery advocates to fend off ethical objections.)
Most of the money outside of jackpot winnings goes back to the participating states, and they have complete control over how it is used. For example, Minnesota puts some of the proceeds into a fund that helps support groups for problem gambling and recovery.