  In this paper, we show that when policy-motivated parties can commit to a
particular platform during a uni-dimensional electoral contest where valence
issues do not arise there must be a positive association between the policies
preferred by candidates and the policies adopted in expectation in the lowest
and the highest equilibria of the electoral contest. We also show that this
need not be so if the parties cannot commit to a particular policy. The
implication is that evidence of a negative relationship between enacted and
preferred policies is suggestive of parties that hold positions from which they
would like to move from yet are unable to do so.
