VIRTUAL WASHINGTON

Rain or shine, few Americans will go to the polls on Election Day in November 2020. Most will vote by modem, telephone or mail -- and overall citizen participation will be much greater than it is today. So will citizen interest, partly because four or five reasonably serious presidential candidates will be on the ballot, along with at least one official referendum and perhaps half a dozen national advisory referendums. Enthusiasm for the democratic process will have reached a point where even Washington should be more popular.

Too hopeful? Perhaps. But it's no pipe dream. Technology, whose image has suffered...