The political assertion by subalterns (specifically lower and backward castes) that India witnessed from the 1990s onwards, and the formation of governments by parties representing these groups in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, two electorally critical North Indian states, contributed significantly to the deepening of India's democracy. But these lower caste governments met with vehement resistance from privileged strata, and from a section of state actors themselves, in particular, the bureaucracy. These governments adopted a range of strategies to counter this resistance in turn, which had the effect of bringing the procedural and substantive elements of democracy into sharp conflict. The project of lower and backward caste empowerment was defined by a politics of levelling, which placed great value on instantly visible egalitarian outcomes, even when these could only be achieved by denting the rule of law and weakening public institutions. But it was precisely on account of its ability to deliver instant egalitarian fixes (albeit on an ad-hoc and sporadic basis) that this politics commanded so much legitimacy among subordinate groups. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in Uttar Pradesh, and secondary literature on backward caste politics in Bihar, this article explores the consequences that this prioritizing of right outcomes over proper procedures had on public culture in North India. It argues that this prioritizing of consequences over means bred a widespread impatience with a procedural conception of democracy, which was seen as obstructing the modalities that went to secure justice in real life.

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印度民主深化的困境：来自北印度两个州的笔记

印度从 1990 年代起见证了下层社会（特别是低种姓和落后种姓）的政治主张，以及代表这些群体的政党在北方邦和比哈尔邦这两个对选举至关重要的北印度邦组成的政府，对印度的深化民主。但这些低种姓政府遭到了特权阶层以及部分国家行为者本身，特别是官僚机构的强烈抵制。这些政府反过来采取了一系列策略来对抗这种阻力，其结果是使民主的程序和实质要素陷入了激烈的冲突。低级和落后的种姓赋权项目是由平等政治定义的，它非常重视立即可见的平等主义结果，即使这些只能通过削弱法治和削弱公共机构来实现。但正是由于它能够提供即时的平等主义解决方案（尽管是临时的和零星的），这种政治在下属群体中获得了如此多的合法性。本文利用在北方邦进行的民族志研究和比哈尔邦落后种姓政治的二手文献，探讨了这种将正确结果优先于适当程序对印度北部公共文化的影响。它认为，这种将后果置于手段之上的做法引发了对民主程序概念的普遍不耐烦，这被视为阻碍了在现实生活中确保正义的方式。