The official lottery is the system that organizes state-sponsored gambling in order to raise money for public purposes. In most cases, states run their own lotteries independently from each other, but in some countries, they join together into federations that offer multistate games with large jackpot prizes. This is the case in the United States, where several states participate in the Mega Millions and Powerball lotteries, which serve as de facto national lotteries.

In America, Cohen writes, the lottery became “a mechanism of the American dream.” It was a way for middle and working class Americans to get ahead and to feel like they were contributing to society rather than just extracting from it. It was also an alternative to taxes, particularly as America became increasingly tax averse during the nineteen-sixties.

Unlike other forms of gambling, which are often seen as morally dubious, state-run lotteries were defended as being a form of public service. They would raise revenue to fund state programs without imposing especially onerous taxes on lower-class residents, and they could help pay for services that voters were reluctant to support with higher income taxes or budget cuts.

But this argument is faulty, Cohen writes. It ignores the regressive nature of the lottery and the ways in which low income communities are marketed to, leading them to spend a larger share of their incomes on tickets than higher-income groups do. It also fails to acknowledge that the lottery generates a great deal of money from instant scratch-off games, which are disproportionately popular with low-income players and tend to carry much smaller jackpots than traditional lotteries.