Lotteries and state-sponsored gambling is big business. This is the first study that evaluates the business strategies of state lotteries on two fronts. First, it examines which of the lottery strategies produces the most consistent source of revenue for the state. Second, it analyzes possible overall gambling strategies that states will need to utilize as they seek to expand gambling revenue. This is must reading for those operating lotteries, state legislators, vendors to state lottery commissions, taxpayers, and scholars in public policy and government. The whole question of state-sponsored gambling is explored, integrating both the business and policy strategies of operating a state lottery. Initially, gambling and lotteries were introduced into the public policy process in times of social unrest, brought on by the outbreak of war. Since regular sources of governmental revenue were diverted to the war effort, proceeds from gambling activites were used to finance the building of roads, canals, and schools. An Ethics of Tolerance also had to evolve in order to engender the public's acceptance of lotteries and gambling. Today, states are using gambling revenues to support education, public transportation, and aid to local towns and cities. Hence, gambling revenues must be maintained or increased. States now must decide whether they should introduce other gambling initiatives, possibly cannibalizing their existing activities in the process. The basic question, of whether it is actually possible for a state to establish an overall gambling strategy, is explored by an analysis of the gambling policies of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. The future of gambling in the United States, as states move beyond lotteries to sanctioning casino gambling by private entrepreneurs, concludes this most relevant and provocative book.

Forty-eight states now permit legalized gambling in some form, thirty-seven states run lotteries, forty-seven allow bingo houses, and more than a dozen states permit betting on dog races. American gamblers wager over $300 billion yearly in legal gambling. Although many Americans enjoy gambling and see it as harmless recreation and a fairly painless way to generate revenue without levying direct taxes, many social conservatives see gambling as a socially destructive temptation that ought notto be indulged by private citizens, much less sponsored by government. Recently, economic pressures resulting from less federal revenue and Americans' growing aversion to tax increases have led many state governments to liberalize gambling laws or sponsor gambling, sparking a lively debate. Legalized Gambling contains twenty articles focusing on different aspects of gambling policy by experts in the fields of public policy, law, psychiatry, rhetoric, religion, economics, and politics. The contributors address all areas of the debate, including the following: -- What moral issues are at the center of the debate? -- What are the true economic costs and benefits of legalized gambling? How are they often hidden or misconstrued in order to support either prohibition or legalization? -- How has the history of gambling in America shaped our current policies? -- Is governmental regulation an invasion of personal privacy? -- What are the legitimate uses of laws? -- Is "pathological gambling" a justifiable medical diagnosis? -- Do gambling establishments run by Native Americans deserve special consideration or regulation? "(In a lottery) ... the tax is laid on the willing only, that is to say, on those who can risk the price of a ticket without sensible injury for the possibility of a higher prize". -- Thomas Jefferson

Examines the dramatic growth of legal gambling in the United States--and the shifting and often contentious politics accompanying its spread.

With its huge jackpots and heartwarming rags-to-riches stories, the lottery has become the hope and dream of millions of Americans--and the fastest-growing source of state revenue. Despite its popularity, however, there remains much controversy over whether this is an appropriate business for state government and, if so, how this business should be conducted.

Explores both sides of the ongoing, temper-raising controversies that surround gambling.