Question

self - government also means that the people are considered sovereign, meaning there is no power above the people. in self - governing states, the people elect public officials to govern positions so those officials can represent the peoples beliefs and craft policies to express their will. in this way, voting is an important manifestation of both self - government and political participation - the most important, some argue, because it is the primary mechanism by which the people ensure that their government represents them. another way to put it is to say that voting is what makes government fair, despite the many forces that prevent it from being fully representative. as supreme court justice earl warren wrote in his decision regarding reynolds v. sims (1964), the right to direct representation is a bedrock of our democracy. in this case, the supreme court ruled in an 8 - 1 decision that electoral districts have to be of equal population to ensure equal representation, reinforcing the idea of one man, one vote (or rather, one person, one vote). the ideas that each person has a vote in american democracy, that their vote is equal in power to another persons vote, and that each person should exercise their vote are considered not only normal but normative (desirable.). considering how important it is to vote, why dont more americans vote? voter turnout refers to the percentage of eligible voters, or voters who meet the requirements of their localities or states, who cast a ballot in an election. many consider voter turnout to be low in the united states compared to other industrialized nations (see chart below), though the 66 percent of eligible voters who cast a ballot in the recent 2020 election represented the highest recorded voter turnout in a us election since the 1980s.

Explanation:

The text discusses voter turnout in the US, a topic related to political participation in a democratic system. Reasons for low turnout among eligible voters include factors like meeting requirements, and it touches on the importance of voting for self - government and equal representation as per democratic ideals and Supreme Court rulings.

Answer:

Possible reasons for low voter turnout among eligible voters in the US include failing to meet local or state requirements for voting, and a lack of perceived importance of voting despite its significance for self - government and equal representation in a democratic system.