Lottery is an activity in which numbers are drawn to determine a prize, such as cash or goods. Although making decisions and determining fates by lot has a long record in human history (including several examples in the Bible), the lottery as an instrument for material gain is of more recent origin. The first recorded public lottery was held in Rome for the purpose of municipal repairs. King Francis I of France introduced the lottery to his kingdom after visiting Italy and saw it as a way of redistributing property and easing state finances.
States that adopt lotteries generally take a similar approach in establishing them. They legislate a state monopoly; create a government agency or public corporation to run the lottery; start with a modest number of fairly simple games; and, under pressure to increase revenues, progressively add more games as demand increases. Lotteries have broad public approval, largely because they are perceived to benefit a particular public good such as education.
This is a dangerous and misleading message, however, because it obscures the fact that lottery games are regressive in that people with less money spend a larger share of their incomes on tickets. And it also gives the impression that winning a lottery jackpot is easy and attainable, when in reality it is very difficult to do so. A better message would be to let people know that playing the lottery is a risky game and they should consider it carefully before spending their hard-earned dollars on a ticket.