7. Dissatisfied partisans and the unrepresented

This chapter sheds new light on citizens’ resentment towards politics by looking at what may be part of the problem: citizens may feel unrepresented. Using data from the 2021 Belgian election survey and drawing on an innovative measure of feeling represented, this chapter first examines how well citizens in Belgium feel represented. The results show that, while the majority of citizens feel represented by at least some representatives, more than 1/3 does not feel represented by anyone. Second, I find that not feeling represented by any politician or party goes together with a disengaging political resentment: having low trust, anger, hopelessness and being more likely to abstain. In contrast, citizens who feel unrepresented by most representatives, yet who do feel represented by at least some of them, are associated with a more engaging kind of resentment as they are no longer likely to abstain nor likely to feel hopeless. The results also suggest that populist parties can play a key role by keeping discontented citizens politically engaged. Lastly, I find that feelings of being unrepresented by all politicians and parties are especially prevalent among historically disadvantaged groups, which is additional cause for concern from a political equality perspective.