Gambling and the American Moral Landscape
Date:ÌýOctober 25–26, 2007
Abstract
On Thursday and Friday, October 25 and 26, 2007, the Boisi Center hosted a major conference entitled Gambling and the American Moral Landscape. Recent events in Massachusetts -- where Governor Deval Patrick proposed selling three licenses to build the state's first casinos -- have raised this issue to the very top of the public agenda. The conference was a spirited, rigorous and interdisciplinary look at the role gambling plays in American culture.Ìý
Participants
Dwayne Eugène CarpenterÌýis Professor of Hispanic Studies, Chair of the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, and Co-Director of the Jewish Studies Program at Boston College. The author of several books on medieval religious and intellectual history, he has a special interest in the historical role of gambling in society. Among his gambling-related articles are “Fickle Fortune: Gambling in Medieval Spainâ€� (Studies in Philology) and “‘Alea jacta est': At the Gaming Table with Alfonso the Learnedâ€� (Journal of Medieval History). Carpenter holds a Ph.D. in Romance Languages & Literatures from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as a Ph.D. in Medieval Historical Studies from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley.
Charles T. ClotfelterÌýis Z. Smith Reynolds Professor of Public Policy Studies, Professor of Economics and Law, and Director of the Center for the Study of Philanthropy and Voluntarism of the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University. His research interests are the economics of education, the nonprofit sector, public finance, and tax policy. He is the author ofÌýAfter Brown: The Rise and Retreat of School DesegregationÌý(Princeton, 2004),ÌýBuying the Best: Cost Escalation in Elite Higher EducationÌý(Princeton, 1996), andÌýFederal Tax Policy and Charitable GivingÌý(Chicago, 1985). He has also co-authored (with R. Ehrenberg, M. Getz, and J. Siegried)ÌýEconomic Challenges in Higher EducationÌý(Chicago, 1991) and (with P. Cook)ÌýSelling Hope: State Lotteries in AmericaÌý(Harvard, 1989).
Philip J. CookÌýis ITT/Terry Sanford Distinguished Professor of Public Policy Studies, Professor of Economics, Professor of Sociology, and Associate Director of the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley. He has served as consultant to the U.S. Department of Justice (Criminal Division) and the U.S. Department of Treasury (Enforcement Division). He has also served in a variety of capacities with the National Academy of Sciences, including membership on expert panels dealing with alcohol abuse prevention, violence, and school shootings. Cook is a member of the Division Committee for the Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. His books includeÌýGun Violence: The Real CostsÌý(with J. Ludwig, Oxford, 2000),ÌýThe Winner-Take-All SocietyÌý(with R. H. Frank, Free Press, 1995), andÌýSelling Hope: State Lotteries in AmericaÌý(with C. Clotfelter, Harvard, 1989).
Rachel T.A. CrosonÌýis Associate Professor of Operations and Information Management at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She holds a Ph.D. and A.M. in economics from Harvard University and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. The author of dozens of scholarly articles and book chapters, including several on the “gambler’s fallacy,â€� Croson brings the insights of behavioral economics to bear upon decision-making practices. Her research involves the experimental and empirical study of how individuals make strategic decisions, especially those concerning negotiation/bargaining and contributions to public goods. She is a member of numerous scholarly editorial boards and foundation advisory boards.
John DombrinkÌýis a professor in the Department of Criminology, Law & Society at the University of California, Irvine. He received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a research assistant on Jerome Skolnick’s landmarkÌýHouse of Cards: Legalization and Control of Casino GamblingÌý(1978). He is the author of several articles on gambling in America, and co-author of a book about gambling legalization,ÌýThe Last Resort: Success and Failure in Campaigns for CasinosÌý(1990, with William N. Thompson). With Daniel Hillyard, he is the author ofÌýDying Right: The Death With Dignity MovementÌý(2001), a study of the legal reform of physician assisted suicide. With Daniel Hillyard, he is also the author of a new book,ÌýSin No More: From Abortion to Stem Cells – Crime , Law and Morality in America.Ìý(NYU Press, 2007), in which the authors examine current “morality contestsâ€� in American culture, assess the status of American laws and attitudes toward the sphere of personal morality, and address the issues of the “values voters,â€�Ìý polarization, religion,Ìý ambivalence, and framing strategies.
Matthew Fox is an MBA student at the University of Nevada Reno, and received his B.A. from Colorado College. He is a founding director of Animal House Rescue and Elko County Habitat for Humanity. His research interests include organizational behavior, non-profit management, corporate social responsibility, and more broadly, how organizations make and implement decisions where profit is not the deciding factor.Ìý
William GalstonÌýis Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and College Park Professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Chicago and a B.A. from Cornell University. He is a political theorist who both studies and participates in American politics and domestic policy. Galston was Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy during the first Clinton Administration and Executive Director of the National Commission on Civic Renewal, which was chaired by Sam Nunn and William Bennett. His books includeÌýPublic Matters: Essays on Politics, Policy and ReligionÌý(Rowman & Littlefield, 2005);ÌýThe Practice of Liberal PluralismÌý(Cambridge, 2004); andÌýLiberal Pluralism: The Implications of Value Pluralism for Political Theory and PracticeÌý(Cambridge, 2002).
Kenneth Himes, O.F.M.Ìýis an Associate Professor of Theology and the Chairperson of the Theology Department at Boston College.
Prior to joining the faculty at Boston College, Fr. Himes taught at Washington Theological Union. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Virginia, Howard University Divinity School and St. John’s University (NY) where he held the Paul McKeever Chair. A member of the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) he has held a number of leadership positions within his religious community.
His research interests are in the history of Catholic social teaching, the role of the U.S. Catholic community in American social reform, the ethics of warfare, and the relationship of religion and politics in the nation’s public life.
John P. HoffmannÌýis Professor of Sociology at Brigham Young University. He earned a B.S. from James Madison University, an M.S. from American University, a Ph.D. from State University of New York at Albany, and an M.P.H. from Emory University. His research interests include criminology, applied statistics, and sociology of religion. Selected publications include “Extracurricular Activities, Athletic Participation, and Adolescent Alcohol Useâ€� (Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 2006); “Social and Environmental Influences on Endangered Species: A Cross-National Studyâ€� (Sociological Perspectives, 2004); “A Contextual Analysis of Differential Association, Social Control, and Strain Theories of Delinquencyâ€� (Social Forces, 2003); and “Religion and Problem Gambling in the United Statesâ€� (Review of Religious Research, 2000).
T. J. Jackson LearsÌýis Board of Governors Professor of History at Rutgers University and Editor-in-Chief of theÌýRaritan Quarterly Review. He earned a B.A. from the University of Virginia, an M.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Ph.D. from Yale. His research interests include U.S. cultural and intellectual history, comparative religious history, literature and the visual arts, and folklore and folk beliefs. Selected publications includeÌýSomething for Nothing: Luck in AmericaÌý(Viking Penguin, 2003);ÌýFables of Abundance: a Cultural History of Advertising in AmericaÌý(Basic Books, 1994); andÌýNo Place of Grace: Antimodernism and the Transformation of American Culture, 1880-1920Ìý(Pantheon, 1981; reissued by Chicago, 1994; Japanese translation by Shohakusha Publishing, forthcoming).
Steven Andrew LightÌýis Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Administration and Co-Director of the Institute for the Study of Tribal Gaming Law and Policy at the University of North Dakota.Ìý He received a B.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. in political science from Northwestern University.Ìý Light has published widely on Indian gaming as well as policy implementation, affirmative action, environmental racism, and voting rights.Ìý He is co-author of three books:ÌýIndian Gaming and Tribal Sovereignty: The Casino Compromise;ÌýIndian Gaming Law and Policy; andÌýIndian Gaming Law: Cases and Materials; and is writing “The Law is Goodâ€�: The Voting Rights Act, Redistricting, and Black Regime Politics.Ìý Light has testified on Indian gaming regulation before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and was featured on C-SPAN’s Book TV.Ìý He is a member of the International Masters of Gaming Law and writes a regular column on tribal gaming in Casino Lawyer.Ìý
Richard McGowanÌýis Associate Professor of Operations and Strategic Management at Boston College and Research Associate at the Harvard Medical School Division on Addictions. He received a D.B.A. in 1988 from Boston University. His research focuses on the interaction of business and public policy processes, especially as they relate to the gambling, tobacco, and alcohol industries. He has published five books:ÌýState Lotteries and Legalized Gambling: Painless Revenue or Painful MirageÌý(Quorum,1994);ÌýBusiness, Politics and Cigarettes: Multiple Levels, Multiple AgendasÌý(Greenwood, 1995);ÌýIndustry as a Player in the Social and Political ArenasÌý(Quorum, 1996);ÌýThe Search for Revenue and the Common Good: An Analysis of Government Regulation of the Alcohol IndustryÌý(Prager, 1997); andÌýGovernment and the Transformation of the Gaming IndustryÌý(Edward Elgar, 2001). He is currently completingÌýDividing the Spoils: States and the Gambling IndustryÌýand is working on a book on the interaction of government with the accounting industry with Gregory Trompeter of Boston College’s Accounting Department.
R. Shep MelnickÌýis the Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr. Professor of American Politics. He teaches a variety of courses on American politics, including Courts and Public Policy, Ideas and Institutions in American Politics, Bureaucracy, Democracy in America, Rights in Conflict, and the American politics graduate field seminar. His research and writing focuses on the intersection of law and politics. His first book, Regulation and the Courts, examined judicial influence on the development of environmental policy. His second, Between the Lines, investigated the ways in which statutory interpretation has shaped a variety of entitlement programs. His current research project looks at how the Rehnquist Court is reshaping our governing institutions. Melnick is co-chair of the Harvard Program on Constitutional Government and a past president of the New England Political Science Department. Before coming to Boston College 1997 he had taught at Harvard and at Brandeis, where he served as chair of the Politics Department.
Michael NelsonÌýis Professor of Political Science at Rhodes College in Memphis. He earned a B.A. from the College of William and Mary and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. He teaches courses on U.S. Politics, the American Presidency, and the Constitutional Convention. He also teaches the College’s humanities course, “The Search for Values in the Light of Western History and Religion,â€� and coauthored a book about the course,ÌýCelebrating the Humanities: A Half Century of the Search Course at Rhodes CollegeÌý(1996). Nelson has published twenty-one books, the most recent of which areÌýThe Presidency and the Political System,Ìý8th ed. (2006),ÌýThe Elections of 2004Ìý(2005),ÌýThe American Presidency: Origins and Development, 1776-2002Ìý(2003), and (with John Mason Lyman)ÌýGoverning Gambling: Politics and Policy in State, Tribe, and NationÌý(2000). His newest book,ÌýHow the South Joined the Gambling Nation: The Politics of State Policy Innovation, will be published in September 2007 by LSU Press.
Marc PotenzaÌýis Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Division of Substance Abuse), Director of the Problem Gambling Clinic, Director of Neuroimaging for the VA MIRECC, and Director of the Women and Addictive Disorders Core of Women's Health Research at Yale University. He holds a Ph.D. in cell biology and an M.D. from Yale University. Potenza investigates the relationship between “behavioralâ€� addictions and drug addictions with particular focus on the etiology and treatment of pathological gambling and the relationship between pathological gambling and drug use disorders. His research group uses a variety of investigative approaches—fMRI neuroimaging, molecular genetic, clinical treatment trials, and epidemiological analyses—to investigate these areas. He is the co-editor ofÌýPathological Gambling: A Clinical Guide to TreatmentÌý(American Psychiatric Press, 2004), and the author of many articles on pathological gambling, including “Should addictive disorders include non-substance-related conditions,â€�ÌýAddiction, 2006; “Shared Genetic Contributions to Major Depression and Pathological Gambling,â€� with H. Xian et al. (Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005); and “Pathological Gambling,â€� with T.R. Kosten and B.J. Rounsaville (Journal of the American Medical Association, 2001).
David Quigley, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of History and the Director of Graduate Studies in the History Department at Boston College.Ìý Currently, Professor Quigley is serving as the Acting Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston College.
ÌýProfessor Quigley teaches a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses on the nineteenth-century United States and on political and urban history. His research to date has explored the history of race and democracy between the American Revolution and Reconstruction in the local political cultures of New York. He is completing a new synthetic project, “Last, Best Hope: International Lives of the American Civil War" (Hill & Wang) and editing “A Companion to American Urban Historyâ€� (Blackwell) and “Busing in Boston: A Brief History with Documentsâ€� (Bedford).
Joseph Quinn, Ph.D., is the James P. McIntyre Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at Boston College.
ÌýProf. Quinn has recently returned to a professorship in the Economics Department after his tenure as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston College – a position he held since 1999.Ìý Prof. Quinn’s research interests include labor economics, economics of aging and social security reform.Ìý He is currently teaching on microeconomics and public policy issues.
ÌýSome of Prof. Quinn’s recent publications include "Comments on 'The Role of Employers in Phased Retirement: Opportunities for Phased Retirement among White-Collar Workers'", in Work Options for Older Americans, Teresa Ghilarducci and John Turner, editors (University of Notre Dame Press, 2007) and "Modeling the Retirement Decision," in Social Structures, Aging, and the Self-Regulation of the Elderly, K. Warner Schaie and Laura L. Carstensen, editors (Springer Publishing Company, 2006).
Kathryn R.L. RandÌýis Floyd B. Sperry Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of North Dakota School of Law, and is Co-Director of the Institute for the Study of Tribal Gaming Law and Policy.Ìý She received a B.A. from the University of North Dakota and a J.D. from the University of Michigan School of Law.Ìý Rand has published widely on Indian gaming as well as sex equality, affirmative action, and environmental racism.Ìý She is co-author of three books:ÌýIndian Gaming and Tribal Sovereignty: The Casino Compromise;ÌýIndian Gaming Law and Policy; andÌýIndian Gaming Law: Cases and Materials.Ìý She has testified on Indian gaming regulation before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and was featured on C-SPAN’s Book TV.Ìý She is a member of the International Masters of Gaming Law and the Editorial Board of the Gaming Law Review.Ìý Rand writes a regular column on tribal gaming in Casino Lawyer and with Light, blogs on Indian gaming atÌý.
David A. Skeel, Jr.Ìýis S. Samuel Arsht Professor of Corporate Law at University of Pennsylvania Law School. Skeel is an expert in bankruptcy and corporate labor law. He holds a J.D. from the University of Virginia and a B.A. from the University of North Carolina. He has been interviewed on Nightline, Chris Matthews’ Hardball (MS-N×ÔοÊÓÆµ), National Public Radio, and Marketplace, among others, and has been quoted inÌýThe New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post,Ìýand many other publications. He is the author ofÌýIcarus in the BoardroomÌý(Oxford, 2005) andÌýDebt’s Dominion: A History of Bankruptcy Law in AmericaÌý(Princeton, 2001), as well as numerous articles and other publications. In addition to corporate law and bankruptcy, Skeel writes on sovereign debt law and religion, and poetry and the law, and is an elder at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.
William StuntzÌýis Henry J. Friendly Professor of Law and Vice-Dean for Intellectual Life at Harvard Law School. He received a B.A. from the College of William and Mary and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. His research interests are Christianity and legal theory, crime policy, and criminal law and procedure. Recent publications include “Christian Legal Theory,â€�ÌýHarvard Law ReviewÌý(2003); “Local Policing After the Terror,â€�ÌýYale Law JournalÌý(2002); andÌýComprehensive Criminal ProcedureÌý(with R. J. Allen, J. L. Hoffman, and D. A. Livingston) andÌýAspen Law & BusinessÌý(2001).
James SundaliÌýis the Associate Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Nevada, Reno and previously taught at Kent State University. His interests include judgment and decision making, game theory, bargaining and negotiation, experimental economics, and finance. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Arizona and both an M.B.A. and B.S. from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He has also worked as a stockbroker and financial planner. His publications include "Biases in casino betting: The hot hand and the gambler's fallacy" with Rachel Croson in the journal, Judgment and Decision Making. He has also published in the Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Journal of Business Strategies.
Kathryn TannerÌýis Dorothy Grant Maclear Professor of Theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from Yale University. Tanner is a Christian theologian in the Protestant tradition; she addresses contemporary challenges to belief through the creative use of the history of Christian thought and interdisciplinary methods such as critical, social, and feminist theory. Her booksÌýGod and Creation in Christian Theology and The Politics of GodÌýdiscuss the coherence and practical force of Christian beliefs about God's relation to the world.ÌýTheories of Culture: A New Agenda for TheologyÌýexplores the relevance of cultural studies for rethinking theological method. Her brief systematic theology,ÌýJesus, Humanity, and the Trinity, centers on the incarnation. Her latest book,ÌýEconomy of Grace, explores the intersections between theology and economics.
Judith Wilt, Ph.D., is the Newton College Alumnae Chair in Western Culture and Professor of English in the English Department at Boston College.
ÌýProfessor Wilt specializes in nineteenth- and twentieth-century British fiction, Victorian literature, Women's Studies, religion and literature, and popular-culture genres.
ÌýShe is a founding member of the Women's Studies Committee at Boston College and has published essays and given papers on women writers as diverse as Ayn Rand, Toni Morrison, Georgette Heyer and Virginia Woolf.
ÌýSome of Prof. Wilt’s published works include Behind Her Times: The Novels of Mary Arnold Ward (2005) and an article published in Victorian Literature and Culture titled “Bronte's Shirley: Reflections on Marrying Mooresâ€� in March 2002.
Alan WolfeÌýserved as the founding director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life, and Professor of Political Science, at Boston College from 1999 until his retirement in 2016.Ìý
Widely regarded as one of this coutry's most prominent public intellectuals, he is the author and editor of more than 20 books, including, most recently,ÌýÌý(2014),ÌýÌý(2011),ÌýThe Future of LiberalismÌý(2009),ÌýÌý(co-edited with Erik Owens, 2009),ÌýÌý(2006),ÌýÌý(2005),ÌýÌý(2003),ÌýÌý(2003),ÌýÌý(editor, 2002)ÌýÌý(2001),ÌýÌý(1999), andÌýÌý(1997). BothÌýOne Nation, After AllÌýandÌýMoral FreedomÌýwere selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year.
Professor Wolfe attended Temple University as an undergraduate and received his doctorate in political science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1967. He has honorary degrees from Loyola College in Maryland and St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.
He is a Senior Fellow with the World Policy Institute at the New School University in New York.Ìý In the fall of 2004, Professor Wolfe was the George H. W. Bush Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin.
A contributing editor ofÌýThe Wilson Quarterly,ÌýCommonwealth Magazine, andÌýIn Character, Professor Wolfe writes often for those publications as well as forÌýCommonweal,ÌýThe New York Times,ÌýHarper's,ÌýThe Atlantic Monthly,ÌýThe Washington Post, and other magazines and newspapers. He served as an advisor to President Clinton in preparation for his 1995 State of the Union address and has lectured widely at American and European universities.
Professor Wolfe has been the recipient of grants from the Russell Sage Foundation, the Templeton Foundation, the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Lilly Endowment. He has twice conducted programs under the auspices of the U.S. State Department that bring Muslim scholars to the United States to learn about separation of church and state. He is listed inÌýWho's Who in the World, Who's Who in America and Contemporary Authors.
Event Photos
Participants of the Gambling and the American Moral Landscape Conference
Panel I: Michael Nelson
Panel I: Charles T. Clotfelter
Panel I: Steven Light
Panel I: Shep Melnick
Panel I: Michael Nelson
Panel I: Steven Light and Kathryn Rand
Panel II: John Dombrink
Panel II: John Hoffman
Panel II: Marc Potenza
Panel II: Joseph Quinn
Panel III: William Galston
Panel III: William Stuntz
Panel III: Kathryn Tanner
Panel III: Dwayne Carpenter
Panel IV: Left to Right: Richard McGowan, T.J. Jackson Lears, Alan Wolfe, Steven Light
Panel IV: T.J. Jackson Lears, Alan Wolfe
Panel IV: Richard McGowan
Panel IV: Alan Wolfe
Event Recap
The Boisi Center’s biggest event of the fall semester was a major conference on “Gambling and the American Moral Landscapeâ€� held at Boston College, October 25-26, 2007.Ìý The culmination of two years of planning, the conference fortuitously coincided with political discussion over Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s proposal for three casinos to be built in this state. The conference consequently drew significant media and public attention, as well as a well-informed and passionate audience representing various policy advocacy groups, casinos, state and local governments, and academic disciplines. Audio and video links to the presentations and discussion sessions can be found on the conference website (), along with numerous resources for those interested in learning more about gambling. Boisi Center director Alan Wolfe and assistant director Erik Owens are hard at work editing a volume of these papers, which will be published in book form in 2009.
The New Politics and Policy of Gambling
The conference kicked off with a panel addressing policy and political issues associated with gambling. This wide-ranging panel included discussion of political rationales used to justify a state’s implementation of a lottery, the continued expansion of state lotteries, the lack of federal control of lotteries and the moral implications of tribal sovereignty and socioeconomic depression in many Indian communities.Ìý Kenneth Himes, O.F.M. (Boston College) chaired the session, which included Charles Clotfelter (Duke University), Michael Nelson (Rhodes College) and a joint presentation by Kathryn R.L. Rand and Steven A. Light (University of North Dakota). The respondent, R. Shep Melnick (Boston College), discussed these papers in light of the contradictory interests of the public in lower taxes and more social services. Gambling revenues (and thus tax receipts from these revenues) are disproportionately provided by the poorest Americans, who also tend to vote less. So in an important sense,Ìý Melnick argued, government expansion of gambling allows states to increase government services to voters who do not themselves pay the price.
Individual Behavior, Social Impact
Thursday’s second panel focused on individual behavior and the social impact of gambling. The panelists, Rachel Croson (University of Texas, Dallas), John Hoffmann (Brigham Young University) and Marc Potenza (Yale University), offered presentations on the psychological, social and physiological aspects of gambling. Some highlights of the panel included evidence that what people actually do—as empirically observed—frequently conflicts with what they should do to improve their welfare; general agreement that while only 1.5% of people who have gambled become pathological gamblers, these people can have a disastrous impact on their families, friends and colleagues; and descriptions of cutting edge brain imaging research on behavioral addictions such as gambling. Joseph Quinn (Boston College) chaired the panel, and discussant John Dombrink (University of California, Irvine) adeptly wove the various arguments together and recounted his own experience with bingo in the Catholic church.
Theology, Gambling and Risk
Judith Wilt (Boston College) chaired Friday’s first panel, which focused on theological concerns about gambling. William Galston (Brookings Institution), Kathryn Tanner (University of Chicago) and William Stuntz (Harvard University) presented wide-ranging papers that explored the Jewish commitment to work, creativity, contemplation and the concerns of practicality; the curious gamble inherent in “Pascal’s wager� about the existence of God; and a shift in American law, as influenced by Protestant Christianity, away from mercy toward retribution as response to vice. Dwayne Carpenter (Boston College) responded to the papers in part with a considerable contribution of his own about the role of gambling in Jewish history. Together the panelists demonstrated that gambling has often been understood as compatible with religious belief and practice, contrary to today’s prevailing opinion.
Gambling in American Culture
The phenomenon of gambling in American culture was addressed in the final panel of the conference, chaired by David Quigley (Boston College). Economist Richard McGowan, S.J. (Boston College) outlined the curious inverse relationship between the fates of the American cigarette and gambling industries in the last fifty years. T.J. Jackson Lears (Rutgers University) described the long-standing tension in American culture between visions of “the self-made man,â€� who thrives on the “culture of controlâ€� and eschews the easy money of gambling, and “the confidence man,â€� who thrives on the “culture of chanceâ€� by relying upon luck and the gullibility of others to get ahead. “How different is the stock market day-trader from the lone gambler?â€� Lears asked, and is the former best understood as a self-made man or a confidence man?Ìý The Boisi Center’s Alan Wolfe argued that gambling has never risen to the forefront of the culture wars alongside abortion and gay rights in large part because it has widespread support, and thus has never become a topic of national debate or controversy. Discussant Steven Light (University of North Dakota) concluded the panel by arguing that well-informed public discourse and public policy about gambling requires much more sophisticated analysis and awareness than is common today.
Conference organizers and participants agreed that the event was a great success, and we would like to thank the many people who made it happen. For details about all the speakers and their presentations, please visit the conference web site (). Stay tuned for updates in this newsletter about the edited volume of conference essays; we will announce the book’s publisher soon.
Read More
Further Reading
Below you will find an assortment of literature, web based sources and film media that can provide everything from historical background of to current debates on gambling and the American moral landscape.
A)ÌýBooks and Articles
ÌýÌýÌý 1)ÌýCurrent Analysis of Gambling
ÌýÌýÌý 2)ÌýHistory of Gambling
ÌýÌýÌý 3)ÌýGambling Addiction
ÌýÌýÌý 4)ÌýProfessional Gambling
ÌýÌýÌý 5)ÌýGambling: Mapping the American Moral Landscape
ÌýÌýÌý 6)ÌýNon-Gambling Works by Conference Participants
µþ)Ìý°Â±ð²ú²õ¾±³Ù±ð²õ
ÌýÌýÌý 1)ÌýAbout Gambling
ÌýÌýÌý 2)ÌýGambling Addiction
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_____________________________________________________
BOOKS/ARTICLES:
* indicates works by conference participants
CURRENT ANALYSES OF GAMBLING
*Clotfelter, Charles, and Philip Cook.ÌýSelling Hope: State Lotteries in America. Harvard, 1989.
Collins, Peter.ÌýGambling and the Public Interest. Praeger, 2003.
Cosgrave, James, editor.ÌýThe Sociology of Risk and Gambling Reader. Routledge, 2006.
*Croson, Rachel, and J. Sundali. “The Gambler’s Fallacy and the Hot Hand: Empirical Data from Casinos.â€�ÌýJournal of Risk and UncertaintyÌý30 (2005), 195-209.
Derevensky, Jeffrey, and Rina Gupta, editors.ÌýGambling Problems in Youth: Theoretical and Applied Perspectives. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2004.
Evans, Rod, and Mark Hance.ÌýLegalized Gambling: For and Against. Open Court Publishing Company, 1997.
Goodman, Robert.ÌýThe Luck Business: The Devastating Consequences and Broken Promises of America's Gambling. Free Press, 1996.
Griffiths, Mark. Expert on British problem gambling,Ìýinterview found here
Grinols, Earl.ÌýGambling in America: Costs and Benefits. Cambridge, 2004.
Hsu, Cathy H. C.ÌýLegalized Casino Gaming in the United States: The Economic and Social Impact. Haworth, 1999.
*Lears, T.J. Jackson.ÌýSomething for Nothing: Luck in America. Viking, 2003.
*Light, Stephen, and Kathryn Rand.ÌýIndian Gaming and Tribal Sovereignty: The Casino Compromise. University Press of Kansas, 2005.
*Light, Stephen, and *Kathryn Rand.ÌýIndian Gaming Law and Policy. Carolina Academic Press, 2006.
*Mason, John Lyman, and Michael Nelson.ÌýGoverning Gambling. Century Foundation Press, 2001.
*McGowan, Richard.ÌýGovernment and the Transformation of the Gaming Industry. Edward Elgar, 2001.
*McGowan, Richard.ÌýState Lotteries and Legalized Gambling: Painless Revenue or Painful Mirage. Praeger, 1994.
Morse, Edward A. and Goss, Ernest P.,ÌýGoverning Fortune: Casino Gambling in AmericaÌý(Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2007).
*Nelson, Michael, and John Lyman Mason, How the South Joined the Gambling Nation: The Politics of State Policy Innovation (LSU Press, 2007).
Pierce, Patrick. Gambling Politics: State Government and the Business of Betting. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2004.
Reith, Gerda.ÌýGambling: Who Wins? Who Loses?ÌýPrometheus Books, 2003.
Shaffer, Howard J., Matthew N. Hall, Joni Vander Bilt, and Elizabeth George, editors.ÌýFutures at Stake: Youth, Gambling, and Society. Dover, 1998.
Tren, Nottingham.ÌýEconomics of Gambling. Routledge, 2002.
Vogel, Jennifer, editor.ÌýCrapped Out: How Gambling Ruins the Economy and Destroys Lives. Common Courage Press, 1997.
Volberg, Rachel A., and Richard Leone.ÌýWhen the Chips Are Down: Problem Gambling in AmericaÌý(Century Foundation Report). Century Foundation Press, 2001.
Volberg, Rachel A.Ìý and Wray, Matt , Legal Gambling and Problem Gambling as Mechanisms of Social Domination? Some Considerations for Future Research, American Behavioral ScientistÌý 51:1 (September 2007): 56-85.
HISTORY OF GAMBLING
*Carpenter, Dwayne E. “‘Alea jacta est: at the gaming table with Alfonso the Learned.â€�ÌýJournal of Medieval HistoryÌý24.4 (1998) 333-45.
*Carpenter, Dwayne E. “Fickle Fortune: Gambling in Medieval Spain.â€�ÌýStudies in PhilologyÌý85.3 (1988), 267-78.
Castellani, Brian.ÌýPathological Gambling: The Making of a Medical Problem. SUNY Press, 2000. [history of problem gambling]
Schwartz, David.ÌýRoll the Bones: The History of Gambling. Gotham, 2006.
Smith, John L.ÌýSharks in the Desert: The Founding Fathers and Current Kings of Las Vegas. Barricade Books, 2005.
GAMBLING ADDICTION
Barthelme, Frederick, and Stephen Barthelme.ÌýDouble Down: Reflections on Gambling and Loss. Harvest, 2001.
Berman, Linda, and Mary-Ellen Siegal.ÌýBehind the 8-Ball: A Recovery Guide for the Families of Gamblers. iUniverse, 2000.
Chin, John.ÌýA Way to Quit Gambling: For Problem Gamblers. Writer’s Digest Books, 2000.
*Grant, Jon E., and Marc Potenza.ÌýPathological Gambling: A Clinical Guide to Treatment. American Psychiatric Publishing, 2004.
Horvath, A. Thomas.ÌýSex, Drugs, Gambling & Chocolate: A Workbook for Overcoming Addictions. Impact, 2003.
Humphrey, Hale. This Must Be Hell: A Look at Pathological Gambling. Writers Club Press, 2000.
Isaacs, Neil David.ÌýYou Bet Your Life: The Burdens of Gambling. University Press of Kentucky, 2001.
Perkinson, Robert.ÌýThe Gambling Addiction Patient Workbook. Sage, 2003.
*Potenza, Marc, H. Xian, et al. “Shared Genetic Contributions to Major Depression and Pathological Gambling.â€�ÌýArchives of General Psychiatry, 2005.
PROFESSIONAL GAMBLING
Mezrich, Ben.ÌýBringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions. Free Press, 2003.
Munchkin, Richard.ÌýGambling Wizards: Conversations with the World's Greatest Gamblers. Huntington, 2003.
Sklansky, David, and Mason Malmuth.ÌýGambling for a Living. Two Plus Two, 1997.
Non-gambling works by participants:
*Galston, William.ÌýPublic Matters: Essays on Politics, Policy and Religion. Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.
*Hoffman, John. “A Contextual Analysis of Differential Association, Social Control, and Strain Theories of Delinquency.â€�ÌýSocial Forces, 2003.
*Nelson, Michael and Sidney Milkis, The American Presidency: Origins and Development, 1776-2007 (CQ Press, 2007).
*Skeel, David.ÌýIcarus in the Boardroom. Oxford, 2005.
*Stuntz, William. “Christian Legal Theory.â€�ÌýHarvard Law Review, 2003.
*Tanner, Kathryn.ÌýEconomy of Grace. Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2005.
*Wolfe, Alan.ÌýDoes American Democracy Still Work?ÌýYale, 2006.
Websites:
About gambling:
-Alberta Gaming InstituteÌý
-American Gaming Association (has lots of statistics):Ìý
-National Indian Gaming Association:Ìý
-Gambling Law in the US:Ìý
-Roger Dunstan, Gambling in California, January 1997 (includes history of gambling in the US):
-UC Davis IndianÌýGambling Forum 2007:
-Vanier Institute of the Family
Gambling Addiction:
-The Recovery Village Ridgefield:Ìý
-National Council on Problem Gambling:Ìý
-Gamblers Anonymous:Ìý
-Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery:Ìý
-Anti-Gambling Handbook:Ìý
FILMS:
1.ÌýÌýÌý Rounders (1998)
Matt Damon plays a reformed poker player who just can’t give up the game. He gets into the biggest game of his life.
2.ÌýÌýÌý Casino (1995)
ÌýRobert De Niro plays a character based on real-life gangster Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal and tells the story of the mobs control in Vegas.
3.ÌýÌýÌý Oceans 11 (1960/2001)
The original with the Rat Pack is still the classic movie about a gang set to rob the casino.
4.ÌýÌýÌý Vegas Vacation (1997)
This is an installment of National Lampoon’s vacation series with all the usual whacky situations of the other comedies. The Griswolds head off for Las Vegas, as Clark got an extra bonus for developing a food preservative. The scene with Chevy Chase playing Blackjack against the dealer played by Shawn Wallace is priceless.
5.ÌýÌýÌý The Big Town (1987)
Craps players will love this movie. Matt Dillon plays a small town gambler with a gift for shooting dice, who goes to Chicago to seek his fortune.
6.ÌýÌýÌý Owning Mahowny
This movie shows the darker side of gambling addiction. The story is based on a true story about a bank executive who committed the largest one man fraud in Canadian history. This is not a great movie with an entertaining story line but neither is gambling addiction in true life. The fact that it was based on a true story gives it credence and makes it worth watching.
7.ÌýÌýÌý The Hustler (1961)
Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason star in this ultimate gambling movie about pool hustlers. Gleason plays legendary Minnesota Fats who is challenged to a high stakes match by "Fast Eddie" Felson played by Newman.
8.ÌýÌýÌý Bugsy (1991)
Bugsy tells the true story of legendary New York mobster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel who built the Flamingo Hotel and Casino which paved the way for the mob to take over Las Vegas.
9.ÌýÌýÌý Cincinnati Kid (1965)
Steve McQueen plays a rising card shark who challenges a veteran player for the chance to be known as "The Man.". Long before Texas Hold’em Stud was the game.
10.ÌýÌýÌý The Sting (1973)
When a mutual friend is killed by a mob boss, two con men, one experienced and one young seek revenge by pulling off the big con on the mob boss. Paul Newman and Robert Redford play the con men in this film that won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture.
In the News
Post-conference news about the conference:
Ìý(The Pilot)
Ìý(The Daily Free Press)
Ìý
Paper Abstracts
The following paper abstracts were written six months before the October 2007 conference; the final papers delivered at the conference and published in the book to followÌýmay reflect changes made after these abstracts were written.
Panel 1: The New Politics and Policy of Gambling
- "Ends and Means in State Lotteries: The Importance of a Good Cause"
Charles T. Clotfelter and Philip J. Cook (Duke University) - "The Politics of Sovereignty and the Federal Role in Gambling"
Michael Nelson (Rhodes College) - "The Morality of Indian Gaming: Negotiating a Different Terrain"
Kathryn R.L. Rand and Steven A. Light (University of North Dakota)
Panel 2: Individual Behavior, Social Impact
- "Behavioral Measures of Risk-Taking"
Rachel Croson, Matthew Fox and James Sundali (University of Pennsylvania) - "Gambling with the Family?"
John P. Hoffmann (Brigham Young University) - "A Neuropsychiatric Perspective on Gambling and Morality"
Marc Potenza (Yale University)
Panel 3: Theology, Gambling and Risk
- "The Memory of Sin"
William Galston (Brookings Institution) - "Grace and Gambling"
Kathryn Tanner (University of Chicago) - "The Puzzling History of the Criminal Law of Gambling"
David A. Skeel, Jr. (University of Pennsylvania) and William Stuntz (Harvard University)
Panel 4: Gambling in American Culture
- "The Tale of Two 'Sins': Regulation of Gambling and Tobacco"
Richard McGowan, S.J. (Boston College) - "Beyond Pathology: The Cultural Meanings of Gambling"
T. J. Jackson Lears (Rutgers University) - "The Culture War Issue that Never Was: Why the Right and Left Have
Overlooked Gambling"
Alan Wolfe (Boston College)
Schedule
Thursday, October 25, 2007
1:00 - 3:30 PMÌýÌýÌýÌýTHE NEW POLITICS & POLICY OF GAMBLING
CHAIR
Kenneth Himes, O.F.M.,ÌýBoston College
PAPERS
"Ends and Means in State Lotteries: The Importance of a Good Cause"
ÌýCharles T. ClotfelterÌýandÌýPhilip J. Cook, Duke University
"The Politics of Sovereignty and the Federal Role in Gambling"
ÌýMichael Nelson, Rhodes College
"The Morality of Indian Gaming: Negotiating a Different Terrain"
ÌýKathryn R.L. RandÌýandÌýSteven A. Light, University of North Dakota
DISCUSSANT
ÌýR. Shep Melnick, Boston College
3:45 - 6:15 PMÌýÌýÌýÌýINDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR, SOCIAL IMPACT
CHAIR
Joseph Quinn, Boston College
PAPERS
"Behavioral Measures of Risk-Taking"
Rachel T.A. Croson, University of Texas, Dallas
James SundaliÌýandÌýMatthew Fox, University of Nevada, Reno
"Gambling with the Family"
John P. Hoffmann, Brigham Young University
"A Neuropsychiatric Perspective on Gambling and Morality"
ÌýMarc Potenza, Yale University
DISCUSSANT
ÌýJohn Dombrink, University of California, Irvine
Friday, October 26, 2007
9:00 - 11:30 AMÌýÌýÌýÌýTHEOLOGY, GAMBLING AND RISK
CHAIRÌý
ÌýJudith Wilt, Boston College
PAPERSÌý
"The Memory of Sin"
William Galston, Brookings Institution
"Grace and Gambling"
Kathryn Tanner,ÌýUniversity of Chicago
"The Puzzling History of the Criminal Law of Gambling"
ÌýDavid A. Skeel, Jr., University of Pennsylvania
William Stuntz,Ìý Harvard University
DISCUSSANTÌý
ÌýDwayne E. Carpenter, Boston College
1:00 - 3:30 PMÌýÌýÌýÌýGAMBLING IN AMERICAN CULTUREÌý
CHAIRÌý
David Quigley, Boston College
PAPERSÌý
"The Tale of Two 'Sins:' Regulation of Gambling and Tobacco"Ìý
Richard McGowan, S.J.,ÌýBoston College
"Beyond Pathology: The Cultural Meanings of Gambling"
T. J. Jackson Lears, Rutgers University
"The Culture War Issue that Never Was: Why the Right and Left Have Overlooked Gambling"
Alan Wolfe, Boston College
DISCUSSANTÌý
Steven A. Light,ÌýUniversity of North Dakota
Ìý
Friday, Octber, 26, 2007
9:00 - 11:30 AMÌýÌýÌýÌýTHEOLOGY, GAMBLING AND RISK
CHAIR
ÌýJudith Wilt, Boston College
PAPERS
"The Memory of Sin"
William Galston, Brookings Institution
"Grace and Gambling"
Kathryn Tanner,ÌýUniversity of Chicago
"The Puzzling History of the Criminal Law of Gambling"
ÌýDavid A. Skeel, Jr., University of Pennsylvania
William Stuntz,Ìý Harvard University
DISCUSSANT
ÌýDwayne E. Carpenter, Boston College
1:00 - 3:30 PMÌýÌýÌýÌýGAMBLING IN AMERICAN CULTUREÌý
CHAIR
David Quigley, Boston College
PAPERS
"The Tale of Two 'Sins:' Regulation of Gambling and Tobacco"Ìý
Richard McGowan, S.J.,ÌýBoston College
"Beyond Pathology: The Cultural Meanings of Gambling"
T. J. Jackson Lears, Rutgers University
"The Culture War Issue that Never Was: Why the Right and Left Have Overlooked Gambling"
Alan Wolfe, Boston College
DISCUSSANT
Steven A. Light,ÌýUniversity of North Dakota
Presentations
Charles T. Clotfelter and Philip J. Cook, Duke University
Kathryn Rand and Steven Light, University of North Dakota
John Hoffmann, Brigham Young University
Richard McGowan, S.J., Boston College
Steven Light, University of North Dakota (Discussant)
Presentation by Judith Wilt, "Humorous Musings on our Subject"
Ìý
Ìý
Ìý
