Self-government ensures that the tracks are pointing in the right direction. I think it means the active pursuit of knowledge and understanding on the part of the citizen. It means actively seeking out issues, reading newspapers and magazines, discussing and debating approaches and alternatives, making a conscious effort to understand the major concerns facing our towns, states and nation. It means acting not as simply a payer of taxes, a recipient of services and a follower of edicts, but acting as an active partner in the democracy. Then, and only then, does it mean voting.
Voting ought to be the exclamation point of an ongoing process.
Those who engage in active self-government, whatever their party affiliation or philosophy, will almost certainly vote. For them voting is a logical extension of self-government. By contrast, persistent failure to vote is frequently a symptom of a lack of self-government. But to participate in voting without the discipline of self-government is to engage in mob rule, not democracy. To paraphrase Paul Erlich, giving an ignorant voter a ballot is like giving an idiot child a machine gun.