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Biographical data were collected on members of the U.S. executive, legislative, and judicial branches, in George Washington's first through Ronald Reagan's last administration, fromWho Was Who in America,theBiographical Dictionary of the United States Congress, Vice Presidents and Cabinet Members,andBurke's Presidential Families of the United States of America.They suggest that serial polygyny in this sample has declined over the last two hundred years. Census data on average American men suggest that the number of wives per man has stayed the same or increased at the same time. These trends imply that mating equality may have increased over the last two centuries of American history. What sketchy evidence exists on extramarital opportunities tentatively suggests a similar trend.

This study of the Kikuyu today looked at bridewealth and polygyny. The sample was about 300 30-40 year-olds, divided between residents of Nairobi and rural Kiambu. The families of almost all the male respondents had paid bridewealth at their marriages - ordinarily a combination of cash and livestock, and there was considerable complaint about cost. About one in six of the male respondents either were currently in polygynous relationships, or planned to be. This was lower than the 28% of their fathers who were polygynous. The explanation for the reduction included opportunity, attitude change, expense, and the availability of extramarital relationships.

For decades, scholars have puzzled over why polygyny in Africa is concentrated in the continents western countries -- Guinea, Togo, and Mali, among others. There are competing theories, rooted in variables such as relative infant mortality rates and the agricultural roles women play in different parts of Africa. A new study, however, argues that the answer may be found somewhere else, darker and uglier: the slave trade. Certainly, polygyny may have existed before the slave trade began. But this study suggests that slavery encouraged the practice by ensuring that there were fewer men available to be husbands to West African women. Adapted from the source document.

Polygynous families had been living legally in Russia in the areas inhabited by Muslims from the October Revolution to the mid-twentieth century. However, such a family model was not common among the followers of Islam. An act penalizing bigamy or polygamy was introduced into the Penal Code in 1960. During perestroika, and later changes in the political system, imams who came from abroad began to visit areas inhabited by Muslims. They contributed to the rebirth of religion and promoted the idea of po­lygamy. Polygyny is the visible sign of dissimilarity and Muslim identity and was an important point in their teaching. In this context the number of polygynous relationships in Russia has increased significantly. The article is dedicated to the analysis of social and political discourse in Russia that has been taking place for several years.

Combining data from two Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in Ghana in 1991 and 1993 and information from focus group discussions held in four rural areas of that country, we analyze how the prevalence of polygyny in an area affects the gender hierarchy and relations within the family, and spousal attitudes to and communication on issues of reproduction and family planning. We find that in areas with higher levels of polygyny, where women and their roles in the household are seen as easily replaceable, gender inequality within the family with respect to these issues is more pronounced and enduring than in areas with lower polygyny levels. We briefly discuss implications of these findings for the future of gender relations in Ghana and in similar social contexts.

This paper examines the roles of primary subsistence base and women's contributions to food production in the etiology of polygyny. Cross-cultural data from the Ethonographic Atlas are employed. Polygyny is differentiated into categories of absent (monogamy only), occasional (less than 20% of all marriages), and frequent (20% or more of all marriages). The results show that polygyny is very likely to be allowed, but infrequently practiced, in exploitative and incipient agriculture economies. It is most likely to be widespread in herding and extensive agriculture economies, but decreases in" frequency as agricultural technology develops further. These patterns are explained by variation in the roles of men and women in subsistence production.in combination with variation in the labor-intensiveness of subsistence activities.

Polygynous families had been living legally in Russia in the areas inhabited by Muslims from the October Revolution to the mid-twentieth century. However, such a family model was not common among the followers of Islam. An act penalizing bigamy or polygamy was introduced into the Penal Code in 1960. During perestroika, and later changes in the political system, imams who came from abroad began to visit areas inhabited by Muslims. They contributed to the rebirth of religion and promoted the idea of po­lygamy. Polygyny is the visible sign of dissimilarity and Muslim identity and was an important point in their teaching. In this context the number of polygynous relationships in Russia has increased significantly. The article is dedicated to the analysis of social and political discourse in Russia that has been taking place for several years.

SummaryWomen's social networks and social power are increasingly seen as important factors modulating their health in sub-Saharan Africa. Polygyny, a common marital structure in many societies, mediates important intra-household relationships by requiring both competition and co-operation among co-wives. Using mixed methods, semi-structured questionnaires were administered to 298 women aged 15–84 living in the Kolondiéba region of rural Mali in 1999, and supplemented by detailed interviews with 40 women. Three categories of outcome were explored: illness experience, therapeutic itinerary and social support received. Quantitative data were analysed using regression analysis and qualitative data using a grounded theory approach. In quantitative analyses, controlling for age and household wealth index, senior wives were less likely to be escorted to a healer by their husbands during illness than were junior wives or monogamous women. Polygynous women were also less likely to obtain a treatment for which there was a monetary fee. Fewer than one-third of polygynous women reported the assistance of a co-wife during illness in any given task. In qualitative analyses, women further related varied mechanisms through which polygyny impacted their health trajectories. These ranged from strongly supportive relationships, to jealousy because of unequal health or fertility, bias in emotional and material support provided by husbands, and accusations of wrong-doing and witchcraft. This study highlights the need for more prospective mixed methods analyses to further clarify the impact of polygyny on women's health-related experiences and behaviours in sub-Saharan Africa.