Polygamy is tolerated to some degree by almost half of the world’s societies. It is practiced by only 2 percent of North Americans from a range of religious and national backgrounds. Some participants in polygamous marriages have immigrated to North America from countries where such marriage is permitted and recognized under the law. Others are members of local fundamentalist Mormon religious sects, which practice polygamy outside the bounds of secular law. However, questions regarding the legal and ethical permissibility of plural marriage occupy a disproportionately large space in the public and legal imagination.
