By your definition the billionaires and the politicians they back would be unsuccessful political actors as they’re making the quality of life worse for most people. I’d say they are very successful political actors, and that is the problem.

In my opinion politics is “war without bloodshed”. It is a means by which a group can accomplish certain goals that another group opposes.

One side could have a goal of improving the quality of life for the poor while the other could have a goal of improving it for the rich. Politics is what both sides do to try and accomplish there goals.

Political theory is like military theory in the sense that it lays out strategies to defeat the opposition and accomplish those goals. While a military theory is proven correct by winning a battle, a political theory can be proven correct by winning an election.

Politics is a means, not an end. The end/goal is determined by ideology , class position, self interest etc.