To be dependant on you, they would have to buy resources from you.
Maybe, the grievance is not going away because of the persona who's playing the Franks. Does he or she have a special trait?

It also helps to drop/forgive any grievances and demands.

Try the following :
- You can sign better agreements with them and have some money prepared to sweeten the deals. They will ask for the money themselves if it is doable with a gift.
- Check who are their allies and make trade and non-aggression agreements with them. They will appreciate that.
- As suggested by Siptah, drop any grievances you have towards them currently. That should help a lot.

You might want to edit the title from Democracy to Diplomacy to get more views and comments on this topic. :)

Haha whoops good point ?. Thanks for all the replies 

Melliores wrote:

Try the following :
- You can sign better agreements with them and have some money prepared to sweeten the deals. They will ask for the money themselves if it is doable with a gift.
- Check who are their allies and make trade and non-aggression agreements with them. They will appreciate that.
- As suggested by Siptah, drop any grievances you have towards them currently. That should help a lot.

You might want to edit the title from Democracy to Diplomacy to get more views and comments on this topic. :)

Regarding getting them to sweaten the deal - how do you make that happen? Sometimes they counter off and other times they don't. There's no way for me to add money to a proposal unless they counter right?

And it's things like my one demand for 1 turn made 40 turns ago that still shows up as influencing their relationship that I don't understand how to remove. It's a big thumb down - but can I replace it with something else or remove it? I have no grievances or demands with anyone any more. All I've tried to do is give them everything they ask for.

I will try searching through all their allies and make friends with everyone. I'm stuck in a war with Asksumites I can't seem to get out of though. I've offered White Peace several times but they always refuse. I can't surrender... they're asking for far too much territory.