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Talking Like a Tax Collector or a Social Guardian? The Use of Administrative Discourse by U.S. State Lottery Agencies

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Do They Walk Like They Talk?

Part of the book series: Studies in Public Choice ((SIPC,volume 15))

Abstract

Aside from higher education, lotteries are probably the most important state product provided directly to the public. In the United States, revenues from lotteries finance directly one or a few socially desirable causes. Lotteries are depicted as a well-focused quest for increased revenues that also takes into account a liberal respect for consumer sovereignty. State lottery agencies have two goals: a main taxing goal and secondary societal welfare goals such as protecting compulsive gamblers and funding charitable or welfare programs. As such, lotteries are often advertised as a way to earn proceeds for some social cause (often Education). Analyzing the administrative discourse provides a window inside the balancing act of the two missions. The tax-collector/social guardian positions taken by the different U.S. state lottery agencies will be scrutinized. Efforts to understand the determinants of the ideological positions revealed by administrative discourse will be presented. In this chapter, administrative discourse will be used to estimate how state lottery agencies balance their dual missions. The results will shed light on the nature of state government and its bureaucratic apparatus.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The U.S. National averages for fiscal balances are 3.2% in 2003, 4.8% in 2004, 8.4% in 2005, 9.8% in 2006. The average for the four years is 6.55%.

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Acknowledgment

I want to take this opportunity to thank Louis Imbeau, Jérôme Couture, and Morgan Southwood for their comments and suggestions. Needless to say, all remaining errors are mine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers – The State University of New Jerse, Newark, NJ, USA

    Étienne Charbonneau

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  1. Étienne Charbonneau
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Correspondence to Étienne Charbonneau .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dépt. Science Politique, Université Laval, Pavillon Charles-DeKoninck, Québec, G1K 7P4, Canada

    Louis M. Imbeau

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Charbonneau, É. (2009). Talking Like a Tax Collector or a Social Guardian? The Use of Administrative Discourse by U.S. State Lottery Agencies. In: Imbeau, L. (eds) Do They Walk Like They Talk?. Studies in Public Choice, vol 15. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-89672-4_13

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