Public participation is a substantive content of democratic politics, an essential part of promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, and an important way to ensure and improve people’s livelihoods in the development of the new era and new journey. This article uses data from the Comprehensive Social Survey of China (CSS) to empirically test the potential impact of public democratic participation on satisfaction with livelihood related public services, with a focus on exploring the mediating effect of government trust and the moderating effect of government transparency. Research has found that public participation has a significant positive impact on satisfaction with public services. Government trust plays a significant mediating role in the positive impact of public participation on satisfaction with public services. Government transparency plays a significant moderating role in the direct relationship between public participation and satisfaction with public services, as well as in the mediating relationship formed through government trust. The research results indicate that while promoting democratic system reform with the participation of multiple subjects, attention should also be paid to cultivating government trust and strengthening government information disclosure, in order to promote the high-quality development of government public services and continuously enhance people’s well-being.