Gambling and the American Moral Landscape

Boisi event image

Date:听October 25鈥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.听

Participants

Dwayne Eug猫ne Carpenter听is 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 鈥淔ickle Fortune: Gambling in Medieval Spain鈥 (Studies in Philology) and 鈥溾楢lea jacta est': At the Gaming Table with Alfonso the Learned鈥 (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. Clotfelter听is 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 of听After Brown: The Rise and Retreat of School Desegregation听(Princeton, 2004),听Buying the Best: Cost Escalation in Elite Higher Education听(Princeton, 1996), and听Federal Tax Policy and Charitable Giving听(Chicago, 1985). He has also co-authored (with R. Ehrenberg, M. Getz, and J. Siegried)听Economic Challenges in Higher Education听(Chicago, 1991) and (with P. Cook)听Selling Hope: State Lotteries in America听(Harvard, 1989).


Philip J. Cook听is 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 include听Gun Violence: The Real Costs听(with J. Ludwig, Oxford, 2000),听The Winner-Take-All Society听(with R. H. Frank, Free Press, 1995), and听Selling Hope: State Lotteries in America听(with C. Clotfelter, Harvard, 1989).


Rachel T.A. Croson听is 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 鈥済ambler鈥檚 fallacy,鈥 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 Dombrink听is 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鈥檚 landmark听House of Cards: Legalization and Control of Casino Gambling听(1978). He is the author of several articles on gambling in America, and co-author of a book about gambling legalization,听The Last Resort: Success and Failure in Campaigns for Casinos听(1990, with William N. Thompson). With Daniel Hillyard, he is the author of听Dying Right: The Death With Dignity Movement听(2001), a study of the legal reform of physician assisted suicide. With Daniel Hillyard, he is also the author of a new book,听Sin No More: From Abortion to Stem Cells 鈥 Crime , Law and Morality in America.听(NYU Press, 2007), in which the authors examine current 鈥渕orality contests鈥 in American culture, assess the status of American laws and attitudes toward the sphere of personal morality, and address the issues of the 鈥渧alues voters,鈥澨 polarization, religion,听 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.听


William Galston听is 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 include听Public Matters: Essays on Politics, Policy and Religion听(Rowman & Littlefield, 2005);听The Practice of Liberal Pluralism听(Cambridge, 2004); and听Liberal Pluralism: The Implications of Value Pluralism for Political Theory and Practice听(Cambridge, 2002).


Kenneth Himes, O.F.M.听is 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 public life.


John P. Hoffmann听is 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 鈥淓xtracurricular Activities, Athletic Participation, and Adolescent Alcohol Use鈥 (Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 2006); 鈥淪ocial and Environmental Influences on Endangered Species: A Cross-National Study鈥 (Sociological Perspectives, 2004); 鈥淎 Contextual Analysis of Differential Association, Social Control, and Strain Theories of Delinquency鈥 (Social Forces, 2003); and 鈥淩eligion and Problem Gambling in the United States鈥 (Review of Religious Research, 2000).


T. J. Jackson Lears听is Board of Governors Professor of History at Rutgers University and Editor-in-Chief of the听Raritan 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 include听Something for Nothing: Luck in America听(Viking Penguin, 2003);听Fables of Abundance: a Cultural History of Advertising in America听(Basic Books, 1994); and听No Place of Grace: Antimodernism and the Transformation of American Culture, 1880-1920听(Pantheon, 1981; reissued by Chicago, 1994; Japanese translation by Shohakusha Publishing, forthcoming).


Steven Andrew Light听is 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.听 He received a B.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. in political science from Northwestern University.听 Light has published widely on Indian gaming as well as policy implementation, affirmative action, environmental racism, and voting rights.听 He is co-author of three books:听Indian Gaming and Tribal Sovereignty: The Casino Compromise;听Indian Gaming Law and Policy; and听Indian Gaming Law: Cases and Materials; and is writing 鈥The Law is Good鈥: The Voting Rights Act, Redistricting, and Black Regime Politics.听 Light has testified on Indian gaming regulation before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and was featured on C-SPAN鈥檚 Book TV.听 He is a member of the International Masters of Gaming Law and writes a regular column on tribal gaming in Casino Lawyer.听


Richard McGowan听is 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:听State Lotteries and Legalized Gambling: Painless Revenue or Painful Mirage听(Quorum,1994);听Business, Politics and Cigarettes: Multiple Levels, Multiple Agendas听(Greenwood, 1995);听Industry as a Player in the Social and Political Arenas听(Quorum, 1996);听The Search for Revenue and the Common Good: An Analysis of Government Regulation of the Alcohol Industry听(Prager, 1997); and听Government and the Transformation of the Gaming Industry听(Edward Elgar, 2001). He is currently completing听Dividing the Spoils: States and the Gambling Industry听and is working on a book on the interaction of government with the accounting industry with Gregory Trompeter of Boston College鈥檚 Accounting Department.


R. Shep Melnick听is the Thomas P. O鈥橬eill, 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 Nelson听is 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鈥檚 humanities course, 鈥淭he Search for Values in the Light of Western History and Religion,鈥 and coauthored a book about the course,听Celebrating the Humanities: A Half Century of the Search Course at Rhodes College听(1996). Nelson has published twenty-one books, the most recent of which are听The Presidency and the Political System,听8th ed. (2006),听The Elections of 2004听(2005),听The American Presidency: Origins and Development, 1776-2002听(2003), and (with John Mason Lyman)听Governing Gambling: Politics and Policy in State, Tribe, and Nation听(2000). His newest book,听How the South Joined the Gambling Nation: The Politics of State Policy Innovation, will be published in September 2007 by LSU Press.


Marc Potenza听is 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 鈥渂ehavioral鈥 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鈥攆MRI neuroimaging, molecular genetic, clinical treatment trials, and epidemiological analyses鈥攖o investigate these areas. He is the co-editor of听Pathological Gambling: A Clinical Guide to Treatment听(American Psychiatric Press, 2004), and the author of many articles on pathological gambling, including 鈥淪hould addictive disorders include non-substance-related conditions,鈥澨Addiction, 2006; 鈥淪hared Genetic Contributions to Major Depression and Pathological Gambling,鈥 with H. Xian et al. (Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005); and 鈥淧athological Gambling,鈥 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.听 Currently, Professor Quigley is serving as the Acting Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston College.
听Professor 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, 鈥淟ast, Best Hope: International Lives of the American Civil War" (Hill & Wang) and editing 鈥淎 Companion to American Urban History鈥 (Blackwell) and 鈥淏using in Boston: A Brief History with Documents鈥 (Bedford).


Joseph Quinn, Ph.D., is the James P. McIntyre Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at Boston College.
听Prof. 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 鈥 a position he held since 1999.听 Prof. Quinn鈥檚 research interests include labor economics, economics of aging and social security reform.听 He is currently teaching on microeconomics and public policy issues.
听Some of Prof. Quinn鈥檚 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. Rand听is 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.听 She received a B.A. from the University of North Dakota and a J.D. from the University of Michigan School of Law.听 Rand has published widely on Indian gaming as well as sex equality, affirmative action, and environmental racism.听 She is co-author of three books:听Indian Gaming and Tribal Sovereignty: The Casino Compromise;听Indian Gaming Law and Policy; and听Indian Gaming Law: Cases and Materials.听 She has testified on Indian gaming regulation before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and was featured on C-SPAN鈥檚 Book TV.听 She is a member of the International Masters of Gaming Law and the Editorial Board of the Gaming Law Review.听 Rand writes a regular column on tribal gaming in Casino Lawyer and with Light, blogs on Indian gaming at听.


David A. Skeel, Jr.听is 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鈥 Hardball (MS-N情色空间), National Public Radio, and Marketplace, among others, and has been quoted in听The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post,听and many other publications. He is the author of听Icarus in the Boardroom听(Oxford, 2005) and听Debt鈥檚 Dominion: A History of Bankruptcy Law in America听(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 Stuntz听is 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 鈥淐hristian Legal Theory,鈥澨Harvard Law Review听(2003); 鈥淟ocal Policing After the Terror,鈥澨Yale Law Journal听(2002); and听Comprehensive Criminal Procedure听(with R. J. Allen, J. L. Hoffman, and D. A. Livingston) and听Aspen Law & Business听(2001).


James Sundali听is 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 Tanner听is 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 books听God and Creation in Christian Theology and The Politics of God听discuss the coherence and practical force of Christian beliefs about God's relation to the world.听Theories of Culture: A New Agenda for Theology听explores the relevance of cultural studies for rethinking theological method. Her brief systematic theology,听Jesus, Humanity, and the Trinity, centers on the incarnation. Her latest book,听Economy 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.
听Professor Wilt specializes in nineteenth- and twentieth-century British fiction, Victorian literature, Women's Studies, religion and literature, and popular-culture genres.
听She 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.
听Some of Prof. Wilt鈥檚 published works include Behind Her Times: The Novels of Mary Arnold Ward (2005) and an article published in Victorian Literature and Culture titled 鈥淏ronte's Shirley: Reflections on Marrying Moores鈥 in March 2002.


Alan Wolfe听served 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.听

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,听听(2014),听听(2011),听The Future of Liberalism听(2009),听听(co-edited with Erik Owens, 2009),听听(2006),听听(2005),听听(2003),听听(2003),听听(editor, 2002)听听(2001),听听(1999), and听听(1997). Both听One Nation, After All听and听Moral Freedom听were 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鈥檚 University in Philadelphia.

He is a Senior Fellow with the World Policy Institute at the New School University in New York.听 In the fall of 2004, Professor Wolfe was the George H. W. Bush Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin.

A contributing editor of听The Wilson Quarterly,听Commonwealth Magazine, and听In Character, Professor Wolfe writes often for those publications as well as for听Commonweal,听The New York Times,听Harper's,听The Atlantic Monthly,听The 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 in听Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in America and Contemporary Authors.

Event Photos

Boisi event

Participants of the Gambling and the American Moral Landscape Conference

Boisi event

Panel I: Michael Nelson

Boisi event

Panel I: Charles T. Clotfelter

Boisi event

Panel I: Steven Light

Boisi event

Panel I: Shep Melnick

Boisi event

Panel I: Michael Nelson

Boisi event

Panel I: Steven Light and Kathryn Rand

Boisi event

Panel II: John Dombrink

Boisi event

Panel II: John Hoffman

Boisi event

Panel II: Marc Potenza

Boisi event

Panel II: Joseph Quinn

Boisi event

Panel III: William Galston

Boisi event

Panel III: William Stuntz

Boisi event

Panel III: Kathryn Tanner

Boisi event

Panel III: Dwayne Carpenter

Boisi event

Panel IV: Left to Right: Richard McGowan, T.J. Jackson Lears, Alan Wolfe, Steven Light

Boisi event

Panel IV: T.J. Jackson Lears, Alan Wolfe

Boisi event

Panel IV: Richard McGowan

Boisi event

Panel IV: Alan Wolfe

Event Recap

The Boisi Center鈥檚 biggest event of the fall semester was a major conference on 鈥淕ambling and the American Moral Landscape鈥 held at Boston College, October 25-26, 2007.听 The culmination of two years of planning, the conference fortuitously coincided with political discussion over Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick鈥檚 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鈥檚 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.听 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,听 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鈥檚 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鈥攁s empirically observed鈥攆requently 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鈥檚 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 鈥淧ascal鈥檚 wager鈥 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鈥檚 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 鈥渢he self-made man,鈥 who thrives on the 鈥渃ulture of control鈥 and eschews the easy money of gambling, and 鈥渢he confidence man,鈥 who thrives on the 鈥渃ulture of chance鈥 by relying upon luck and the gullibility of others to get ahead. 鈥淗ow different is the stock market day-trader from the lone gambler?鈥 Lears asked, and is the former best understood as a self-made man or a confidence man?听 The Boisi Center鈥檚 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鈥檚 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)听Books and Articles

听听听 1)听Current Analysis of Gambling
听听听 2)听History of Gambling
听听听 3)听Gambling Addiction
听听听 4)听Professional Gambling
听听听 5)听Gambling: Mapping the American Moral Landscape
听听听 6)听Non-Gambling Works by Conference Participants

叠)听奥别产蝉颈迟别蝉

听听听 1)听About Gambling
听听听 2)听Gambling Addiction

颁)听贵颈濒尘蝉

_____________________________________________________

BOOKS/ARTICLES:

* indicates works by conference participants

CURRENT ANALYSES OF GAMBLING

*Clotfelter, Charles, and Philip Cook.听Selling Hope: State Lotteries in America. Harvard, 1989.

Collins, Peter.听Gambling and the Public Interest. Praeger, 2003.

Cosgrave, James, editor.听The Sociology of Risk and Gambling Reader. Routledge, 2006.

*Croson, Rachel, and J. Sundali. 鈥淭he Gambler鈥檚 Fallacy and the Hot Hand: Empirical Data from Casinos.鈥澨Journal of Risk and Uncertainty听30 (2005), 195-209.

Derevensky, Jeffrey, and Rina Gupta, editors.听Gambling Problems in Youth: Theoretical and Applied Perspectives. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2004.

Evans, Rod, and Mark Hance.听Legalized Gambling: For and Against. Open Court Publishing Company, 1997.

Goodman, Robert.听The Luck Business: The Devastating Consequences and Broken Promises of America's Gambling. Free Press, 1996.

Griffiths, Mark. Expert on British problem gambling,听interview found here

Grinols, Earl.听Gambling in America: Costs and Benefits. Cambridge, 2004.

Hsu, Cathy H. C.听Legalized Casino Gaming in the United States: The Economic and Social Impact. Haworth, 1999.

*Lears, T.J. Jackson.听Something for Nothing: Luck in America. Viking, 2003.

*Light, Stephen, and Kathryn Rand.听Indian Gaming and Tribal Sovereignty: The Casino Compromise. University Press of Kansas, 2005.

*Light, Stephen, and *Kathryn Rand.听Indian Gaming Law and Policy. Carolina Academic Press, 2006.

*Mason, John Lyman, and Michael Nelson.听Governing Gambling. Century Foundation Press, 2001.

*McGowan, Richard.听Government and the Transformation of the Gaming Industry. Edward Elgar, 2001.

*McGowan, Richard.听State Lotteries and Legalized Gambling: Painless Revenue or Painful Mirage. Praeger, 1994.

Morse, Edward A. and Goss, Ernest P.,听Governing Fortune: Casino Gambling in America听(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.听Gambling: Who Wins? Who Loses?听Prometheus Books, 2003.

Shaffer, Howard J., Matthew N. Hall, Joni Vander Bilt, and Elizabeth George, editors.听Futures at Stake: Youth, Gambling, and Society. Dover, 1998.

Tren, Nottingham.听Economics of Gambling. Routledge, 2002.

Vogel, Jennifer, editor.听Crapped Out: How Gambling Ruins the Economy and Destroys Lives. Common Courage Press, 1997.

Volberg, Rachel A., and Richard Leone.听When the Chips Are Down: Problem Gambling in America听(Century Foundation Report). Century Foundation Press, 2001.

Volberg, Rachel A.听 and Wray, Matt , Legal Gambling and Problem Gambling as Mechanisms of Social Domination? Some Considerations for Future Research, American Behavioral Scientist听 51:1 (September 2007): 56-85.

HISTORY OF GAMBLING

*Carpenter, Dwayne E. 鈥溾楢lea jacta est: at the gaming table with Alfonso the Learned.鈥澨Journal of Medieval History听24.4 (1998) 333-45.

*Carpenter, Dwayne E. 鈥淔ickle Fortune: Gambling in Medieval Spain.鈥澨Studies in Philology听85.3 (1988), 267-78.

Castellani, Brian.听Pathological Gambling: The Making of a Medical Problem. SUNY Press, 2000. [history of problem gambling]

Schwartz, David.听Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling. Gotham, 2006.

Smith, John L.听Sharks in the Desert: The Founding Fathers and Current Kings of Las Vegas. Barricade Books, 2005.

GAMBLING ADDICTION

Barthelme, Frederick, and Stephen Barthelme.听Double Down: Reflections on Gambling and Loss. Harvest, 2001.

Berman, Linda, and Mary-Ellen Siegal.听Behind the 8-Ball: A Recovery Guide for the Families of Gamblers. iUniverse, 2000.

Chin, John.听A Way to Quit Gambling: For Problem Gamblers. Writer鈥檚 Digest Books, 2000.

*Grant, Jon E., and Marc Potenza.听Pathological Gambling: A Clinical Guide to Treatment. American Psychiatric Publishing, 2004.

Horvath, A. Thomas.听Sex, 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.听You Bet Your Life: The Burdens of Gambling. University Press of Kentucky, 2001.

Perkinson, Robert.听The Gambling Addiction Patient Workbook. Sage, 2003.

*Potenza, Marc, H. Xian, et al. 鈥淪hared Genetic Contributions to Major Depression and Pathological Gambling.鈥澨Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005.

PROFESSIONAL GAMBLING

Mezrich, Ben.听Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions. Free Press, 2003.

Munchkin, Richard.听Gambling Wizards: Conversations with the World's Greatest Gamblers. Huntington, 2003.

Sklansky, David, and Mason Malmuth.听Gambling for a Living. Two Plus Two, 1997.

Non-gambling works by participants:

*Galston, William.听Public Matters: Essays on Politics, Policy and Religion. Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.

*Hoffman, John. 鈥淎 Contextual Analysis of Differential Association, Social Control, and Strain Theories of Delinquency.鈥澨Social Forces, 2003.

*Nelson, Michael and Sidney Milkis, The American Presidency: Origins and Development, 1776-2007 (CQ Press, 2007).

*Skeel, David.听Icarus in the Boardroom. Oxford, 2005.

*Stuntz, William. 鈥淐hristian Legal Theory.鈥澨Harvard Law Review, 2003.

*Tanner, Kathryn.听Economy of Grace. Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2005.

*Wolfe, Alan.听Does American Democracy Still Work?听Yale, 2006.

Websites:

About gambling:

-Alberta Gaming Institute听
-American Gaming Association (has lots of statistics):听
-National Indian Gaming Association:听
-Gambling Law in the US:听
-Roger Dunstan, Gambling in California, January 1997 (includes history of gambling in the US):
-UC Davis Indian听Gambling Forum 2007:
-Vanier Institute of the Family

Gambling Addiction:

-The Recovery Village Ridgefield:听
-National Council on Problem Gambling:听
-Gamblers Anonymous:听
-Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery:听
-Anti-Gambling Handbook:听

FILMS:

1.听听听 Rounders (1998)
Matt Damon plays a reformed poker player who just can鈥檛 give up the game. He gets into the biggest game of his life.
2.听听听 Casino (1995)
听Robert De Niro plays a character based on real-life gangster Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal and tells the story of the mobs control in Vegas.
3.听听听 Oceans 11 (1960/2001)
The original with the Rat Pack is still the classic movie about a gang set to rob the casino.
4.听听听 Vegas Vacation (1997)
This is an installment of National Lampoon鈥檚 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.听听听 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.听听听 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.听听听 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.听听听 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.听听听 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鈥檈m Stud was the game.
10.听听听 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:

  • 听(The Pilot)

  • 听(The Daily Free Press)

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 follow听may reflect changes made after these abstracts were written.

Panel 1: The New Politics and Policy of Gambling

  1. "Ends and Means in State Lotteries: The Importance of a Good Cause"
    Charles T. Clotfelter and Philip J. Cook (Duke University)
  2. "The Politics of Sovereignty and the Federal Role in Gambling"
    Michael Nelson (Rhodes College)
  3. "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

  1. "Behavioral Measures of Risk-Taking"
    Rachel Croson, Matthew Fox and James Sundali (University of Pennsylvania)
  2. "Gambling with the Family?"
    John P. Hoffmann (Brigham Young University)
  3. "A Neuropsychiatric Perspective on Gambling and Morality"
    Marc Potenza (Yale University)


Panel 3: Theology, Gambling and Risk

  1. "The Memory of Sin"
    William Galston (Brookings Institution)
  2. "Grace and Gambling"
    Kathryn Tanner (University of Chicago)
  3. "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

  1. "The Tale of Two 'Sins': Regulation of Gambling and Tobacco"
    Richard McGowan, S.J. (Boston College)
  2. "Beyond Pathology: The Cultural Meanings of Gambling"
    T. J. Jackson Lears (Rutgers University)
  3. "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 PM听听听听THE NEW POLITICS & POLICY OF GAMBLING

CHAIR
Kenneth Himes, O.F.M.,听Boston College

PAPERS
"Ends and Means in State Lotteries: The Importance of a Good Cause"

Charles T. Clotfelter听and听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听and听Steven A. Light, University of North Dakota

DISCUSSANT

R. Shep Melnick, Boston College

3:45 - 6:15 PM听听听听INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR, SOCIAL IMPACT

CHAIR
Joseph Quinn, Boston College

PAPERS
"Behavioral Measures of Risk-Taking"
Rachel T.A. Croson, University of Texas, Dallas
James Sundali听and听Matthew Fox, University of Nevada, Reno

"Gambling with the Family"
John P. Hoffmann, Brigham Young University

"A Neuropsychiatric Perspective on Gambling and Morality"
Marc Potenza, Yale University

DISCUSSANT
John Dombrink, University of California, Irvine


Friday, October 26, 2007


9:00 - 11:30 AM听听听听THEOLOGY, GAMBLING AND RISK

CHAIR
听Judith Wilt, Boston College

PAPERS

"The Memory of Sin"
William Galston, Brookings Institution

"Grace and Gambling"
Kathryn Tanner,听University of Chicago

"The Puzzling History of the Criminal Law of Gambling"
David A. Skeel, Jr., University of Pennsylvania
William Stuntz,听 Harvard University

DISCUSSANT
Dwayne E. Carpenter, Boston College

1:00 - 3:30 PM听听听听GAMBLING IN AMERICAN CULTURE

CHAIR
David Quigley, Boston College

PAPERS
"The Tale of Two 'Sins:' Regulation of Gambling and Tobacco"
Richard McGowan, S.J.,听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

DISCUSSANT
Steven A. Light,听University of North Dakota

Friday, Octber, 26, 2007

9:00 - 11:30 AM听听听听THEOLOGY, GAMBLING AND RISK

CHAIR
听Judith Wilt, Boston College

PAPERS

"The Memory of Sin"
William Galston, Brookings Institution

"Grace and Gambling"
Kathryn Tanner,听University of Chicago

"The Puzzling History of the Criminal Law of Gambling"
David A. Skeel, Jr., University of Pennsylvania
William Stuntz,听 Harvard University

DISCUSSANT
Dwayne E. Carpenter, Boston College

1:00 - 3:30 PM听听听听GAMBLING IN AMERICAN CULTURE听

CHAIR
David Quigley, Boston College

PAPERS
"The Tale of Two 'Sins:' Regulation of Gambling and Tobacco"
Richard McGowan, S.J.,听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

DISCUSSANT
Steven A. Light,听University of North Dakota