When you have a voting populace who has regularly not participated and talk with authority to them, you can get them to buy whatever you’re selling.

It’s part of human social dynamics. There is no way around that, afaik. In theory, having more critical political participation would create a more democratic platform on the short run. But on the long run, they’ll probably become incorporated and become a legitimate “pressure group”, ergo partner of the same system. Unfortunately, for now I don’t see any changes in the emancipation of Individual human behaviour from human group behaviour. So, it’s all human nature, in praxis.

Added: Just @ huppakke.feddit.nl statement. Seemingly making more or less the same point.