Trending topics of political discourse in the context of forming the agenda of Ukrainian political parties in the future parliamentary elections

The outcome of Ukraine's upcoming parliamentary elections will determine not only the composition of the Verkhovna Rada but also the strategic decisions regarding post-war reconstruction and development, institutional and normative reforms in the Ukrainian political system, societal consolidation around Ukraine's integration into the community of European democracies, and the transformation of Ukraine into a stronghold of security and democratic development in Eastern Europe. Therefore, the analysis of the preconditions for the future electoral process is relevant: the currently formed “trendy” topics of the political discourse and the positioning of political parties in the context of Ukrainian electoral traditions. Study object was the substantive content of the political discourse in Ukraine in 2023. Study subject was trending topics of the political discourse in Ukraine that potentially may become elements of the agenda for Ukrainian political parties during the upcoming pre-election campaign. Study purpose was to identify and provide a meaningful characterization of the trending themes in the Ukrainian political discourse that have the potential to become part of the agenda for Ukrainian political parties within the context of Ukraine's electoral traditions. Following methods such as analysis of normative and statistical data related to Ukraine's electoral system, analysis of Ukraine's information space in the context of political discourse, historical-genetic and comparative analysis of models of Ukraine's electoral system, modelling to determine the influence of trending themes in political discourse on the agenda of political parties in the future pre-election campaign were used. Study base was 1) materials from informational resources (media, Telegram channels); 2) Ukrainian legislative acts related to the regulation of the electoral process; 3) analytical studies on different models of electoral systems; 4) analytical materials on key themes of political discourse in Ukraine, traditions of pre-election campaigns in Ukraine, and the positioning of political parties. The author concludes that there are twelve trending themes in the political discourse of Ukraine that are likely to become part of the party agenda in the upcoming pre-election campaign. These themes shape five points of the political discourse: «Central Government – Local Government», «Government – Society», «Affluent – Less Affluent», «Military – Civilian», «Parties Loyal to Non-Putin Russia – Society – Parties of Radical Patriots». Given the objective conditions in the upcoming parliamentary campaign, the use of a modification of the proportional electoral system is more likely, making the party agenda more relevant than the individual agendas of politicians.