“Crack,” the Fog of Disorder, and Congressional Leadership in the War on Drugs: The Political Development of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986

Abstract This article traces the development of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, arguing that its punitive structure emerged less from ideological design or presidential strategy than from congressional policymaking under conditions of extreme uncertainty—what this study terms the fog of disorder . While existing scholarship emphasizes moral panic or Reagan-era racial politics, this analysis shifts attention to Congress itself. Drawing on archival research from nearly 30 collections—including presidential papers, municipal records, and the personal archives of roughly 20 members of Congress—the article shows how lawmakers confronted crack cocaine as a novel and poorly understood phenomenon characterized by fragmented information, escalating fear, and electoral pressure. In this environment, congressional leaders acted as policy entrepreneurs, using omnibus legislation and compressed procedures to force action and sustain fragile coalitions despite limited evidence. Finally, the article shows how the accumulation of new information through policy implementation—especially evidence of racial disparity and lived experiences with punishment—eventually generated social learning, interest mobilization, and reform. By centering uncertainty, information, and institutional venue and strategy, this study explains both the origins of draconian policy designs and the pathways through which they were later challenged and revised.