What do resentful citizens want from democracy?

Political resentment is increasingly discussed, especially in the context of citizens' dissatisfaction with the current political system as expressed on social media, in the streets, and through support for populist parties. Political resentment is posited as the reflection of a deep discontent with representative democracy, leading to a longing for change. While it is often assumed that the change that the politically resentful look for lies outside the realm of democratic institutional arrangements, there are many alternatives to the current institutional design of democracies that may offer alternatives. This chapter asks two sets of questions. First, the chapter inquires what resentful citizens identify as problematic in the current functioning of democracy, and what they are resentful about. Second, the chapter asks what resentful citizens' (anti-)democratic preferences are, and what alternative (democratic) institutional designs they prefer. These questions are answered using a mixed-methods design integrating survey data of representative samples of Flemish and Walloon citizens, focus groups with Belgian citizens, and democratic theory. Drawing on survey data and qualitative insights from focus groups discussions, the analyses show that citizens with higher levels of political resentment show lower satisfaction with the way in which democracy works, hold more populist attitudes, are more likely to vote blank or abstain, and are more supportive of referenda and citizen fora. The latter democratic innovations may attract the support of resentful citizens because of their perceived novelty and shift away from the 'distrusted representatives'. Remaining hope and expectations vis-à- vis representatives, however, also calls for reflections on how to improve representative relationships in a way that responds to the resentful citizens' concerns. Recursive and reflexive representative relationships are discussed as a way forward in that respect.