[pasbesoin]

This makes me think of a new (to me) term I may find useful: Trickle down participation.

Politics such as this: The real winners are the political and financial elite. But their supporters experience trickle down participation.

Professional sports: Trickle down participation.

A bit simplistic, and ignoring local-scale advantages to the participants. But I'm going to keep it in mind.

A few people getting very rich and powerful. And the rest celebrating this, while propping them up through their participation.