@steem.dao was funded with voting rewards and many users who tend to get big payouts setting it as a beneficiary to their posts. The account is not really a smart-contract like in Ethereum because Steem doesn't have a scripting language like that.
It was a way to socialize investment into the blockchain ecosystem.

The people have never really had "the power" to begin with. We have always been beholden to and at the mercy of those who have larger stake.