The casting of lots to determine fates and distribute prizes has a long history in human culture. The earliest known lottery was held by the Chinese during the Han Dynasty from 205 to 187 BC, and the first state-sponsored lotteries were introduced in the early American colonies during the Revolution, when Benjamin Franklin sponsored a lottery to raise money for cannons to defend Philadelphia against the British.
The modern lottery, in which players pay a small sum to have the chance to win a large prize, is usually based on computerized systems that record the identities of bettors, their stakes and the numbers or symbols on which they bet. The system then shuffles and draws the numbers, with winning applicants having their names included in a list of winners. Most state lotteries also offer online applications and a range of other convenience services for bettors.
A major argument used to promote state-sponsored lotteries is that they provide an alternative source of revenue without raising taxes and are therefore a more effective way for the government to spend its funds than conventional methods such as cutting public services. This argument is especially appealing in periods of economic distress, when voters are eager to support the government and politicians eager to avoid tax increases or cuts in public spending.
However, research shows that the popularity of a lottery is not connected to its actual benefits to the state. In fact, the same study that finds that the success of a lottery is independent of its economic conditions also finds that, once established, a state lottery continues to attract support even when it is no longer economically advantageous to do so.