Not only in condominiums. In suburbia they also manage commons, but also impose rules on what you can do with your house and on your land. You likely need permission for color changes, there might be limitations on what can and cannot be planted in your front yard. You might get fined if your house doesn't fixes when the HOA decides they are needed or when you repeatedly don't bring your garbage in quickly.

I'm not sure what to make of the choice part here. Once an area is under an HOA it's almost impossible to dissolve the HOA. Anecdotal evidence from my own HOA which my wife was president of for many years shows that only very few people get involved. The people who do get involved tend to be of the type who want to overreach. When my wife was president she probably spent more time trying to bring the other folks involved in the HOA back to what's reasonable. Fortunately management companies also help with this. I'm afraid that without management companies most HOAs would devolve into attempts to build a miniature fascist state that only would be stopped by prolonged court battles.