The Lottery opens with a bucolic small-town setting. Children, apparently recently on summer break from school, start to assemble in the town square. Their fathers and brothers join them, displaying the stereotypical small-town family unity. In the center of the gathering, Mr. Summers, the organizer and master of ceremonies for the lottery, sets a black box on a stool. It is adorned with old, worn pieces of the original paraphernalia.
The narrator suggests that this is how the tradition started. The villagers then begin to select their tickets from the pile of stones prepared earlier by the kids. The first selections include a few pebbles, some coins, and one ticket with the number “7.” Little Dave Hutchinson is drawn, which results in a general sigh of relief.
Next, Mrs. Delacroix and Tessie Hutchinson, the other two people whose numbers are drawn, make their selections. Then, the villagers turn their attention to the others in the square, including those who have come from other towns. As they do so, the narrator notes their dehumanizing characteristics.
When it comes to the lottery, state lawmakers rely on a series of messages in order to sell it to voters. The main message is that the money that is raised from lotteries will allow states to expand services without burdening citizens with additional taxes. This was the message that the lottery’s advocates used to sell it during the immediate post-World War II period, but it has proven less persuasive in recent years.
Unlike the traditional forms of lotteries in which prizes are donated by private groups, modern lotteries have a strictly financial purpose. They are based on chance, and in order to participate, a participant must pay some consideration for the chance of winning. Payment can be in the form of goods, work, or cash. Modern examples of this type of lotteries include military conscription, commercial promotions in which property is given away by drawing lots, and the selection of jury members from lists of registered voters.
As such, they are a classic example of public policy made piecemeal and incrementally with no overall perspective. Authority over lotteries is spread among different government agencies, and the public welfare is considered only intermittently. This dynamic is reflected in the fact that few, if any, states have a coherent public policy on gambling.
A key problem with lottery policy is that it tends to be influenced by specific problems that arise during the actual operations of a lottery. These include the impact of compulsive gamblers, alleged regressive effects on lower-income groups, and other problems that are not directly related to the operation of the lottery itself. As a result, many critics of the lottery focus on these specific issues rather than addressing the issue of whether or not a lottery is a good idea in general. This has led to a series of counterproductive responses that have only made the problem worse. A more effective approach would be to look at the ways in which lottery policy is actually formulated and enforced.