I think it's when it seems like the people of a society have a say in the society/government but really don't. An example would be voting for a president. If controlled participation was in place it didn't matter who you voted for because "said person" will actually become president either way.
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Civic and political participation is important so that decisions are not made by a few people. Participation by the masses insures greater freedom.
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Voting is the most powerful act of political participation
Conventional political participation is political participation that attempts to influence the political process through well-accepted, often moderate, forms of persuasion.
A dictatorship or autocracy would have little or no citizen participation. An oligarchy (rule by a favored few) would have less participation than the typical representative democracy.