An Original Theory of Epistemic Authority and Democratic Legitimacy in Religiously Plural Societies: Evidence from Northern Nigeria

This dissertation develops an original theory of epistemic authority and democratic legitimacy applicable to religiously plural societies, using Northern Nigeria, encompassing the North West, North Central, and North East geopolitical zones, as the primary philosophical laboratory. Democratic legitimacy in deeply religious plural societies raises the question of how democratic decisions can be authoritative when different communities derive their fundamental normative commitments from incompatible religious epistemologies, a question that standard liberal democratic theory has not adequately resolved. A four-phase methodology is employed, combining systematic philosophical analysis of epistemic authority from Linda Zagzebski and Philip Kitcher, democratic legitimacy theory from David Estlund and Seyla Benhabib, and African Islamic and Christian political philosophy; empirical investigation through 85 interviews with Islamic scholars, Christian theologians, traditional rulers, and political philosophers across ten Northern Nigerian states; quantitative survey of 400 respondents measuring epistemic authority perceptions and democratic legitimacy evaluations; and constructive philosophical synthesis. The dissertation proposes the Epistemic Pluralism-Legitimacy Model as an original contribution, specifying that democratic legitimacy in religiously plural societies requires procedural epistemic humility among all participants, structural accommodation of diverse epistemic traditions in deliberative processes, and substantive convergence on a minimal overlapping consensus of dignity norms. Findings from Northern Nigeria empirically ground the theoretical model in a context where epistemic religious plurality has historically generated democratic legitimacy crises. Keywords: epistemic authority, democratic legitimacy, religious pluralism, Northern Nigeria, overlapping consensus.