WHEN DOES IT TAKE A NIXON TO GO TO CHINA

Substantial policy changes (like market-oriented reforms by populist p arties and steps towards pence by ''hawks'') are sometimes implemented by ''unlikely'' parties. To account for such episodes this paper deve lops a framework in which incumbent politicians have better informatio n about the state of the world than voters. The incumbent is unable to credibly transmit all this information since voters are also imperfec tly informed about his ideology. This paper identifies conditions unde r which an incumbent party's electoral prospects increase the more aty pical the policy it proposes. Popular support for a policy, or its ''c redibility,'' depends on the policy maker-policy pair.