(18) Those who are involved in politics ought to be aware of the seriousness of this problem.  In the West, current political activity often tends to privilege pragmatic aspects in general and the so-called “policy of balances” on very concrete matters, without entering into a discussion of principles that may endanger difficult and precarious compromises between parties, alliances and coalitions.  But shouldn’t these balances be based on clear principles, fidelity to essential values, and clarity in the fundamental postulates? “ If there is no ultimate truth to guide and direct political activity, then ideas and convictions can easily be manipulated for reasons of power. As history demonstrates, a democracy without values turns easily into open or thinly disguised totalitarianism”.[24][24]  The legislative function corresponds to political responsibility; in this sense, it is up to politicians to be vigilant (not only on the level of principles but also of applications) to avoid a breakdown, with serious present and future consequences, of the relationship between moral and civil law, and the defense of the educational and cultural value of the juridical system.[25][25]  The most effective way to watch over the public interest does not consist in demagogic concessions to pressure groups that promote de facto unions, but rather the energetic and systematic promotion of organic family policies, which consider the family based on marriage as the center and motor of social policy, and which cover the extensive area of the rights of the family.[26][26]  The Holy See has dedicated its attention to this aspect in the Charter of the Rights of the Family, [27][27] going beyond a merely welfare conception of the State.