The problem with steem is that the outcome is a multiplication of two power functions.
If you read the white paper, there is a wonderful little chart that looks like a hocky stick. It shows the most popular posts get large payouts, and that there is a long tail that gets some payouts. This is a power function.
If you plot the amount of voting power it is also a hocky stick.
When you multiply these together, you get an even steeper graph, with a far diminished tail. And with the steem minimums 0.001 SP and 0.02 cents the long tail gets cut short.
So, if we want the curve to look like the white paper, we need to apply a logarithmic function (opposite of power function) to the vote power.