| Summary: | The article examines cleavages in the Russian parliamentary discourse. Factor analysis allows identifying the key points defining the nature of the political confrontation in the State Duma. This is, first of all, a general "power-opposition" cleavage, when disagreements on domestic political and socio-economic problems actually merge into a confrontation between Edinaya Rossiya (United Russia) and other parliamentary parties. In the shadow of this divergence, there is also a confrontation between the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and other parliamentary parties - primarily on concerns related to the change in the Constitution in 2020 and its legislative consequences. Factor scores of the issues causing the greatest polarization in the parliamentary discussion reveal the topics on which Edinaya Rossiya and the parliamentary opposition differ to the maximum extent. They relate primarily to changes in the electoral legislation and the fiscal policy of the state. The discourse analysis, in turn,showsthat the parliamentary opposition uses more emotionally colored vocabulary and critical arguments as part of the argumentation strategy. The discursive strategies of the parliamentary majority and the Government are quite similar. Their speeches are aimed, firstly, at sharing responsibility between state structures for an unpopular decision, and, secondly, at mitigating negative counterarguments and criticism of the opposition. Edinaya Rossiya sometimes demonstrates willingness to converge its positions with "small fractions", as well as to recognize problems, and to make minor concessions, while the parliamentary opposition often uses rhetoric of accusation. It criticizes the Government's policy and the decisions of the majority faction, offering its own, mostly populist, alternatives.
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