Risky Business: America's Fascination with Gambling

Ronald Pavalko's unbiased, impeccably researched book explores the societal, economic, and personal ramifications of gambling, enabling your students to make informed personal, as well as public policy choices, on gambling-related issues. Following an overview of relevant popular, scholarly, and therapeutic literature, the author examines sociological perspectives on gambling and the history of gambling in the United States from Colonial times through the new millenium. He explores the economic impact of legal gambling at both the national and local levels, and then turns to the roles that legislatures, courts, administrative agencies, and voters play in legalizing or criminalizing gambling.