Coming Soon – People, games and chance
A historical and systematic approach to the facination of gambling
“The lived reality of people in antiquity was closely intertwined with their fascination with play and chance. Yet the more religious, cultic, or rule-stabilizing practices suppress the elements of chance and uncertainty inherent in play, the more social orders solidify into authoritarian forms of rule.”
Why We Play – and What It Reveals About Our Society
These questions have been with me for many years – more precisely, since the time when, over 15 years ago, we at Miller & Meier Consulting began exploring the culture of play more deeply together with our then-client Nintendo.
Play is a universal phenomenon. Whether in Munich or Marrakesh, in antiquity or in today’s digital world, people play – always and everywhere. But what does this fundamental human behavior tell us about our political systems, our social cohesion, and our economic structures?
Together with Dr. Daniel Henzgen, I set out to explore these questions. After five years of intensive work, countless conversations, perspectives, and insights have culminated in our joint book:
“People, games and chance”
The book takes an interdisciplinary approach to play, drawing on economics, philosophy, history, game theory, and probability theory. Our aim is to understand play as a space of social possibility: a realm in which we can voluntarily step away from social and political constraints – while at the same time holding up a mirror to the world we live in.
This book is intended for readers who approach the phenomenon of play out of strategic interest, from an academic perspective, or simply out of curiosity – particularly in the context of social, political, and economic dynamics.
My special thanks go to Springer, Prof. Dr. Christian Blum for his expert advice and support, and the many helping hands who made the publication of this book possible.
Daniel Henzgen and I look forward to your comments, feedback, and further discussion.
The new book People, games and chance offers a historical and systematic analysis of games of chance and their enduring appeal to us as human beings. Drawing on insights from history, philosophy, economics, statistics, and psychology, it explores our fascination with the playful struggle with chance – and why games of chance have always been a battleground for competing ideologies, moral values, conceptions of life, and interests of power.
The book offers food for thought for anyone who engages with games of chance professionally or personally, or who is simply fascinated by this wide-ranging field. It provides strategic orientation to inform further reflection and debate and is conceived as a foundational work intended to stimulate discussion among a broad readership across academia, business, society, and politics.
THE AUTHORS
Dominik Meier is co-founder and co-owner of Miller & Meier Consulting, one of the leading political strategy consultancies in Germany and Europe, as well as publisher of the online magazine Freiheit|Macht|Politik. He is a co-founder of the German Association of Political Consultants (de’ge’pol) and the Mosaic network for public affairs professionals, and serves as Vice President of the Public Affairs Community of Europe (PACE). He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Swiss Green Economy Symposium (SGES).
For more than 25 years, Dominik Meier has advised global corporations, international organizations, associations, and medium-sized companies. His research focuses on the relationship between power and freedom, as well as the role of play and chance in society. He lectures on these topics around the world, publishes specialist books, and regularly contributes to public and political debate through the media.
Dr. Daniel Henzgen is Managing Director for Communications & Compliance at LÖWEN ENTERTAINMENT. Founded in 1949, the company is one of Germany’s leading manufacturers of gaming and amusement machines.
An economist and political scientist with a doctorate, he previously held advisory and executive positions in public affairs, strategic corporate development, and marketing and sales, with a particular focus on highly regulated industries.
Dr. Daniel Henzgen is also a member of the Executive Board of the German Amusement and Gaming Industry Association (DAW), Managing Director and Executive Board Member of the German Gaming Machine Industry Association (VDAI), and a founding shareholder of the German Foundation for Gambling Research.
POLITICS IS POWER AND DECISION
Understanding and mastering politics requires knowing the logics of power. This book takes an honest look at how political power works, drawing on twenty years of political consulting experience: from the conceptual foundations to concrete strategies and tools of our own proven power leadership approach. The handbook „Logics of Power“ is an indispensable companion and guide for decision-makers in politics, business and civil society, for prospective and experienced policy advisors – and for anyone who has always wanted to know how power is made.
“Power is multifarious. We encounter it in general and in political practice in many different forms. Power manifests itself in the martial pomp of a military parade, in the decision of a head of state on war and peace, in a parliamentary resolution or in the police control on the roadside. The structures of power penetrate social relationships – consciously perceived or unconscious. From parenting to the deathbed, people are surrounded by these structures. Power is subtle and brutal, taciturn and eloquent.”
“Status-indicating symbols such as service cars and airplanes, bodyguards, accompanying motorcycle columns and sumptuous reception rooms all make the otherwise invisible potential of power visible. They convey, moreover, an impressive hierarchical order and at the same time provide orientation about the responsibilities, competences, duties and dependencies within complex forms of social organization.”
“In essence, the political contest is power chess – and it is the homo consultan’s job to defend his clients, the homo consultandus, with a clever play in the game of victory help. Like politics, chess is an argument centered on dominance through the skillful positioning of actors with varying clout and skill profiles as well as the anticipation of opposing moves.”
THE AUTHORS
Dominik Meier is the owner and Managing Director of Miller & Meier Consulting, a political strategy consultancy he co-founded in 1997. Dominik Meier is chairman of the German Association of Political Consultants (de’ge’pol), which was founded in 2002. Furthermore, he is Vice President of the Public Affairs Community of Europe (PACE), a member of the Advisory Board of Transparency International Deutschland e. V., a member of the Advisory Board of the Travel Industry Club e. V. and an editorial member of the online journal „Political Science Applied“.
His work focuses on strategic positioning and lobbying leadership ™ as well as issues of ethics, transparency and quality assurance in policy consulting. He regularly lectures on these topics and publishes articles in daily papers, trade journals and anthologies.
Dr. Christian Blum deals with power from a scientific and practical perspective. While studying philosophy, political science and Islamic studies in Cologne and Boston, he wrote for the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung and Süddeutsche Zeitung. Afterwards, he earned his doctorate in political theory on the common good (2015 De Gruyter) and worked as a research assistant at the Ethics Center of the University of Cologne and as a Thyssen Research Fellow at Rutgers University.
He worked as a consultant at Miller & Meier Consulting and advised international companies on political strategy development and positioning. He is a lecturer at the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes. Christian Blum publishes in international scientific journals on current political topics.