> It's just that clearly, governments+people can grow a LOT bigger (in absolute number of people) than a corporation, before it generally goes bad.

I don't think it's so easy to separate the two. A corporation is not a real thing, it's a legal fiction created by a government. If a corporation acts badly, it's really the government that allowed it to act badly.

The complications occur when a corporation obtains enough power to be able to influence the government, and thus the ability to influence the rules by which it abides, like a recursive program which is able to alter the mechanics which created it.

At this point, the difference between government and corporations start to blur. It's entirely possible for a corporation to be initially created by a democracy at the will of the people, but over time, as its size and power grows, is able hold the government captive, and control its own rules.

Sadly, this is not just a hypothetical thought experiment.