The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs invites you to join Andrew Kerner, associate professor of political science at Michigan State University, and Jane L. Sumner, associate professor of political science at the University of Minnesota, for a discussion on how the rise of e-commerce is reshaping local governance.

Abstract

The internet has fundamentally changed small businesses in the United States. Social media and e-commerce platforms have enabled new business models, many of which can be operated from home offices and basements. Entrepreneurs are less dependent on brick-and-mortar presences than ever. We argue that this shift has dramatic effects on small business owners’ political behaviors and identity. The small-business-owner-as-civic-leader archetype that features so heavily in American civic and political life is not inherent to entrepreneurial activity, but is rather the product of interactions that are specific to brick-and-mortar businesses, especially when co-located with other brick-and-mortar businesses. Brick-and-mortarness, we argue, exposes business owners to a plethora of routine interactions with the government (via parking, construction, building permits, etc.) that catalyzes (sometimes collective) political actions. These mundane political actions teach small business owners how local politics works, but also socialize them to see themselves as political beings, with long term and broad impacts on how they relate to local politics and civic life. We test this using data from a statewide survey on Minnesota small business owners and through a new dataset of small business owners’ participation in the January 23, 2026 anti-ICE strike in Minnesota. We find consistent support for our theory. An implication of this is that the technological innovations of the  internet suppresses the political socialization of business owners into individual and collective political actors.