The Center's primary focus is organizing the second-level Master's program in Parliament and Public Policy, which Professor Paolo Ungari launched in 1987 as the “Preparatory Course for Careers in Legislative Assemblies.” Subsequently, the course (which became the “Advanced Course in Parliamentary Disciplines”) was directed by Prof. Andrea Manzella from 1995. Starting in the 2005–2006 academic year, it was renamed the first-level Master’s degree “Parliament and Public Policy” and directed by Prof. Carmela Decaro. Since the 2006–2007 academic year, under the direction of Prof. Nicola Lupo, the Master’s program has been known as the Second-Level Master’s in “Parliament and Public Policy.”

In 2009, Professor Andrea Manzella, Director of the Center, was awarded a Jean Monnet Chair ad personam by the European Commission’s Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency on the topic “The Democratic Principle in the European Union.” The activities of the chair were conducted within the framework of the second-level Master’s program in “Parliament and Public Policy.” Building on this experience, the Center secured additional European funding that has driven its activities, including:

• “Parliamentary democracy in Europe,” Jean Monnet Module 2012–2015 (led by Nicola Lupo), which launched the activities – within the School of Government – of the Summer School on “Parliamentary democracy in Europe”;
• “Parliamentary accountability and technical expertise: budgetary powers, information and communication technologies and elections,” Jean Monnet Module 2016–2019 (led by Cristina Fasone), which now supports the organization of the Summer School on “Parliamentary democracy in Europe”;
• “Legislative drafting in implementing EU law in Italy,” Jean Monnet Module 2016-2019 (coordinator Giovanni Piccirilli), which is part of the Advanced Course in Legislative Drafting organized by the School of Law;
• “Understanding EU representative democracy,” Jean Monnet Chair 2018–2021 (led by Nicola Lupo).

Since 2015, the Center has been promoting EUPADRA, a Joint Master's Degree in Parliamentary Procedures and Legislative Drafting. It is organized by the School of Government and the School of Law in partnership with the Complutense University of Madrid and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies at the University of London, and is funded by the Erasmus+ program.

The Center has also participated in the following research programs:

• “State structure, territorial decentralization of powers, and constitutional transformations: from British devolution to regionalization processes in Italy and certain European unitary states” (PRIN 2004);
• “Parliamentary Assemblies as Communication Channels for Contemporary Constitutionalism: Forums and Institutions for Dialogue Among Parliaments” (PRIN 2006), as part of the national project on the theme “From the Circulation of Models to Dialogue Among Legal Systems: The ‘Communication Channels’ of Contemporary Constitutionalism.”
• "The governance of park authorities in Europe. Best practices and critical issues in France, Spain, Great Britain, Austria, and Germany,” funded by the Ministry for the Protection of the Environment, Land, and Sea (2009);
• EU-Oceania Social Science Inter-Regional Consortium EUOSSIC, funded under the Erasmus Mundus Key Activity 1 program (2009-2013).
• Pademia, Parliamentary democracy in Europe, a network comprising 56 academic institutions across 31 countries, funded by the EACEA for the period 2013–2016.

The Center's research has focused on key issues related to the law of elected assemblies, public law, and comparative law—topics that CESP faculty and researchers have been exploring for some time. Particular attention was given to the implementation process of the Lisbon Treaty and the new Treaty on Stability, Coordination, and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union, with specific focus on the roles of the European Parliament and national parliaments.

Furthermore, the Center has launched additional study initiatives, including seminars, aimed at delving deeper into the so-called “parliamentary precedent.” This involves extensive comparative research that examines both the meaning of the “doctrine of precedent” in the law of elective assemblies and the role of “precedent” itself in parliamentary decision-making practices. 

Finally, in 2012, the “CESP NEWS” newsletter was launched, which periodically highlights the activities, publications, talks, and events involving the Center and its members.