A lottery is an arrangement for the awarding of prizes, usually money, based entirely on chance, as distinguished from games in which skill or strategy are important. It is generally used to raise funds for some state or public charitable purpose.
Making decisions and determining fates by casting lots has a long record in human history, but the use of lotteries for material gain is much more recent. It was first recorded in the West in the 15th century, when a lottery was held to repair municipal buildings in Bruges. Later, the lottery raised money for a variety of purposes, including paving streets and building churches, canals, and bridges in England; the founding of Princeton and Columbia Universities in the 1740s; and, in colonial America, the establishment of roads, canals, and colleges.
Today, states run a variety of lotteries, from traditional cash-prize games to games like keno that offer only a small percentage of the proceeds as prize money and require significant player participation. The popularity of these games has prompted criticisms that they have a number of undesirable effects, such as encouraging compulsive gambling behavior, targeting lower-income people, and exploiting the excitement of the potential winnings. Moreover, the growing reliance on these types of games has exacerbated other issues that have arisen with the development of lottery policies. These include the fragmentation of power – between the legislature and the executive branch, among individual state agencies, and between lottery officials and other gambling interests – and the fact that policy decisions are made in a piecemeal fashion, with little or no general overview.