A lottery is a game of chance in which numbers are drawn and prizes are awarded. Historically, lotteries have been popular in many cultures. They have been used to raise money for all sorts of public usages, and were often hailed as a painless form of taxation. The first state-run lottery in modern history was organized in 1726 in the Netherlands, and it is still in operation today. The term “lottery” is derived from the Dutch noun lot, meaning fate or destiny. In the Americas, Benjamin Franklin sponsored a lottery to help pay for cannons to defend Philadelphia during the American Revolution.
In the United States, state lotteries have grown enormously since their introduction in 1964, with most now offering multiple games. Typically, a state legislates a monopoly for itself; establishes an agency or public corporation to run the lottery (as opposed to licensing a private firm in return for a share of profits); begins with a modest number of relatively simple games; and then progressively expands over time.
A key message that state lotteries convey is that winning is a good thing to do, and that playing the lottery is a good civic duty that people should undertake in order to help support their local schools or other public services. Research, however, shows that the actual fiscal health of a state government has very little relationship to whether or not a lottery is adopted. In fact, lotteries win broad public approval even when the state’s fiscal position is strong.