The Arkansas Lottery Scholarship Act: An Examination of the Policy Design Process
Educational Policy: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Policy and Practice
Published online on May 26, 2015
Abstract
State lottery policies have been created to generate additional funds to support public initiatives, such as higher education scholarships. Through 18 participant interviews and document analysis, this study examined how decision makers in Arkansas socially constructed citizens while forming lottery policy. The social construction of target populations theory provides a framework for better understanding how social constructions became embedded into the policy design process. Participants noted that beneficiaries included higher education students and the retail and vendor community. In addition, discussion centered on burdens being placed on people who derive from low income and people who have gambling addiction.