A lottery is a form of gambling in which tickets are sold for a chance to win money or prizes, often through a drawing. It has a long record, including multiple instances in the Bible and ancient Roman lotteries for municipal repairs. In modern times, most states have lotteries. They are operated by state agencies or public corporations, which are primarily concerned with maximizing revenues. As a result, they typically start small with only a few relatively simple games and then increase their scope by adding new ones.
In addition to generating substantial revenues, lottery advertising has the effect of promoting gambling, a behavior that can have negative consequences for the poor and problem gamblers. This is at odds with the primary function of a state government, which should seek to promote public welfare.
Many state governments, however, do not have a coherent “gambling policy” or even a lottery policy. Instead, lottery decisions are made piecemeal, and public officials inherit a lottery that has evolved in ways that they cannot control. State lotteries typically start out as traditional raffles in which the public buys tickets for a future drawing, weeks or months away. Revenues initially expand dramatically, but they eventually level off and, in some cases, begin to decline. This leads to a second set of problems: the need for state lottery officials to introduce new games in an attempt to maintain or increase revenues. The resulting proliferation of games is not always in the best interests of the public, but it can be difficult for legislators to turn a blind eye to the profits generated by their state lotteries.