Although stratified societies have typically been characterized by intensive polygyny, socially imposed monogamy has developed in the stratified societies of Western Europe. Following a critical review of other theories of socially imposed monogamy, a multivariate, nondeterministic theory is developed. Within this theory, a variety of internal political processes can result in socially imposed monogamy, but this phenomenon—while consistent with evolutionary theory—is underdetermined with respect to (1) evolutionary theory, (2) human nature/nurture (i.e., the characteristics of humans), and (3) external ecological variables. Data on the origins and maintenance of socially imposed monogamy in Western Europe are reviewed, indicating that post-antiquity socially imposed monogamy originated in the late Middle Ages and has been maintained since that period by a variety of social controls and ideologies, including political activities of the Christian Church and, in later periods, of women and lower- and middle-status males. As a result of institutionalized controls on reproduction, non-monogamous Western sexuality has been directed at obtaining psychological rewards deriving from evolved motivational systems (e.g., sexual pleasure, excitement, feelings of dominance, status, or intimacy), but this non-monogamous sexuality has not typically been a major source of increased reproductive success.

In 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court endorsed living wills and other written advance medical directives as the best way for people to indicate their desires regarding end-of-life medical treatment. Congress then enacted the Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA), which requires most medical facilities to provide information about advance medical directives. However, results from a national survey of hospital and nursing home administrators reveal that the law is having little practical effect on patients and residents. Medical institutions need to institutionalize a more positive approach to advance directives, but other right-to-die policies are also needed.

Trivers and Willard (1973) argued that, in polygynous species, parents “in good condition” should bias investment toward sons, while parents “in poor condition” should bias investment toward daughters. Biographical evidence on men in the U.S. executive branch—including presidents, vice presidents, and cabinet secretaries—suggests they produced more sons than daughters in the first cohort (Presidents Washington through Garfield), but roughly equal numbers of sons and daughters in the second cohort (Presidents Arthur through Reagan). The same pattern holds for presidents' fathers and sons. Presidents' wills reflect the pattern again: men in the first cohort (Washington through Garfield) favored their sons, overall, slightly more than their daughters; for men in the second cohort (Arthur through Reagan), that bias disappears.

Biotechnology is an evolving policy issue involving a wide variety of federal and state policymakers. While most public and scholarly attention has been focused at the national level, a good deal of state policymaking activity regarding biotechnology has already taken place. The biotechnology issue is not a single, well-defined policy issue but rather a cluster of related issues and concerns. This analysis identifies eight facets of the biotechnology policy issue that have surfaced during congressional debate, committee hearings, and public discussions. This eight-fold characterization of biotechnology development is used to describe recent congressional and state legislative activity affecting biotechnology. Both the complexity and multifaceted nature of the biotechnology issue, and the manner with which it has been dealt by federal and state policymakers, have contributed to the dynamic nature of federalism surrounding this issue.

Two hypotheses about belief in high gods supportive of human morality were tested with data from the Ethnographic Atlas and the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample. A significant positive relation between the size of societies and such a belief is demonstrated, and this relation appears to be independent of both regional differences and differences in stratification of the societies. On the other hand, stratification itself is also significantly related with the belief in high gods supportive of human morality, but this relation could not be shown to be independent of regional differences or differences in size.

In their recent PLS article, Ken R. Daniels and Karyn Taylor (1993) advocate policies of openness in regard to donor insemination (DI). In this commentary, I examine openness within the social context of fertility, infertility, human reproduction, and social parenthood in Cameroon. The traditional concept of secrecy in reproductive failure, especially in the case of male infertility, is outlined. Some of the social alternatives, such as natural insemination and social parenthood, are discussed. The inappropriateness of openness in DI within a sociocultural milieu that places a high premium on male reproductive ability is highlighted.

1. Article X of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (BWC) requests States Parties to facilitate and to participate “in the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials and…information for the use of bacteriological (biological) agents and toxins for peaceful purposes.” Article X, in addition, stipulates that the Convention “shall be implemented in a manner designed to avoid hampering the economic or technological development of the states parties…or international cooperation in the field of peaceful bacteriological (biological) activities” (United Nations, 1972).

The Ethical Problems associated with the new reproductive technologies are well known: they have been aired in the media since the birth of the first “test tube” baby, Louise Brown, in 1978. The moral status of the human embryo outside the womb (available for manipulation as never before), the “rights of ownership” of human gametes transferred between individuals in fertility treatment, the appropriate use of prenatal and preconceptual diagnostic testing, the truthful disclosure of risks and success rates of fertilization and live births, and the very meaning of infertility remediation in an overpopulated society—these and other issues have been noted and debated worldwide for several decades.

During Each Surgery Clerkship at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, I meet with students in small groups for required discussions of legal, ethical, and policy issues in the cases they are working on. The surgery clerkship is offered four times per year; I typically meet with students for an hour four times per clerkship, or sixteen times per academic year.