REVIEWS

摘要

Almost everybody is familiar with one or two instances of the use of lotteries for public decision-making: allocating immigration quotas or filling juries are, perhaps, among the most popular today, but it is indeed a very old practice that has been documented in Greece, Israel and other ancient cultures. In other words, it is a deeply rooted tradition in Western politics and yet, until very recently, there has been no systematic account of its normative foundations and applications. The Luck of the Draw is one of very few attempts at finding some conceptual unity in the political use of lotteries. Peter Stone considers here the two main types of decision by lot: the allocation of scarce goods and the assignment of public offices. His take is clearly normative, despite the wealth of evidence on lotteries discussed in the book. Stone investigates when lotteries are desirable, in particular when they are fair.