I think they mean participation in that you can choose the left or the right lane of the conveyor belt to the butcher house; it's not about addressing actual stuff. You just have to keep up with the newspeak and it all makes perfect sense.
I am going to use this phrase, thanks.
I generally use the example of a slave given sudden democracy: now they can vote which of two slave owners they want to be a slave to.
Vote, no vote: they're still a slave.
Sometimes, "choice" doesn't matter at all.