ERA Senior Civil Servant Exam cheat sheet

The policy cycle runs agenda setting → formulation → adoption → implementation → monitoring and evaluation → revision; evaluation evidence re-enters agenda setting.

A policy problem is fully specified only when it names the affected population, magnitude, trend, causal mechanism, and the counterfactual outcome without intervention.

A well-formed objective includes target group, outcome indicator, baseline, target value, and deadline; without a baseline, progress cannot be measured.

Options appraisal compares the status quo with regulatory, spending, tax, information, and hybrid instruments on effectiveness, efficiency, equity, feasibility, and acceptability.

Cost-benefit decision rule: adopt a feasible option with positive net present value; when the budget is fixed, rank options by NPV per unit of budget.

Ex post causal evaluation requires a counterfactual; common designs are randomized controlled trials, difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity, and matching.

Instrument choice alters incentives: regulation imposes rules, taxes price behavior, subsidies lower costs, information corrects asymmetry, and direct provision supplies goods.

Policy appraisal should test for compliance cost, administrative burden, displacement, substitution, deadweight loss, and unintended distributional effects.

Rule-of-law requirements include legality, legal certainty, non-retroactivity, proportionality, protection of legitimate expectations, and due process.

Proportionality review asks four questions: legitimate objective, suitability, necessity (least restrictive means), and balance between burden and benefit.

Primary legislation creates powers; secondary legislation must stay within the enabling statute; guidance and soft law lack the same enforceability.

Regulatory impact assessment covers problem definition, baseline, options, costs and benefits, consultation, enforcement, and ex post review.

The enforcement pyramid escalates from persuasion and warnings to administrative penalties, suspension, and criminal referral as seriousness or repetition rises.

An action is ultra vires when it exceeds statutory or constitutional authority; courts may quash it, and decision-makers must identify the legal basis.

Judicial review grounds commonly include illegality, procedural impropriety, irrationality, and proportionality where the legal order requires it.

Drafting conventions: 'shall' creates obligation, 'may' confers discretion, definitions control scope, and commencement clauses determine when provisions take effect.

The budget cycle comprises preparation, legislative approval, execution, accounting and reporting, audit, and evaluation.

Fiscal balance = revenue − expenditure; primary balance = fiscal balance + interest payments, or revenue − non-interest expenditure.

Debt/GDP rises when the effective interest rate exceeds nominal growth and the primary balance is not in sufficient surplus.

Budget formats change incentives: line-item budgeting controls inputs, programme budgeting links resources to outputs, and performance budgeting links resources to results.

Accrual accounting records revenue when earned and expenses when incurred; cash accounting records only cash receipts and payments.

Commitment control prevents overspending by authorizing obligations before contracts are signed; virement and carry-over rules constrain reallocation across lines or years.

Value for money is assessed through economy (price), efficiency (input-output ratio), effectiveness (outcome achievement), and equity (distribution).

Budget variance = actual − budget; for expenditure, actual above budget is unfavorable, while for revenue, actual above budget is favorable.

Leadership sets direction and aligns people; management plans, organizes, and controls resources; senior roles require both.

Situational leadership matches directive and supportive behavior to follower competence and commitment; high competence and commitment support delegation.

Transformational leadership comprises idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration.

The AMO model holds that performance = ability × motivation × opportunity; weaknesses in any factor constrain results.

Specific, challenging goals with feedback raise performance, but narrowly targeted goals can produce gaming, tunnel vision, and unethical behavior.

Team development commonly moves through forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning; interventions differ by stage.

The SBI feedback model describes situation, behavior, and impact; effective feedback is specific, timely, behavioral, and actionable.

Conflict modes are competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, and accommodating; collaborating seeks integrative outcomes, while avoiding is useful only for trivial or urgent issues.

Price elasticity of demand = %Δ quantity demanded ÷ %Δ price; |E| > 1 is elastic, |E| < 1 is inelastic, and |E| = 1 is unit elastic.

If demand is elastic, a price cut raises total revenue; if demand is inelastic, a price cut lowers total revenue.

Income elasticity > 0 indicates a normal good; > 1 indicates a luxury; < 0 indicates an inferior good. Cross-price elasticity is positive for substitutes and negative for complements.

The optimal level of an activity occurs where marginal benefit equals marginal cost; if marginal benefit exceeds marginal cost, expanding the activity raises net benefit.

Market failure arises from public goods, externalities, market power, information asymmetry, and common-pool resources; each implies a different policy response.

A Pigouvian tax set equal to marginal external cost at the social optimum internalizes a negative externality; a subsidy can correct a positive externality.

NPV = Σ CF_t/(1+r)^t − initial cost; accept independent projects with NPV > 0 and rank mutually exclusive projects by the highest positive NPV.

HHI = sum of squared market shares in percentage points; values above 2,500 are commonly treated as highly concentrated, 1,500–2,500 as moderately concentrated.

Good governance principles include accountability, transparency, rule of law, responsiveness, equity, effectiveness, and efficiency.

Separation of powers divides legislature, executive, and judiciary; checks and balances prevent concentration and require inter-institutional accountability.

Principal-agent problems arise from divergent interests and information asymmetry; remedies include monitoring, incentives, reporting, and transparency.

Inter-agency coordination instruments include lead-agency mandates, memoranda of understanding, joint committees, shared data platforms, pooled budgets, and single windows.

Subsidiarity allocates decisions to the lowest competent level unless higher-level action is demonstrably more effective.

Stakeholder salience rises with power, legitimacy, and urgency; high-salience stakeholders require priority in governance and consultation.

Public accountability forums include parliament, supreme audit institutions, ombudsman offices, courts, media, and civil society.

Whole-of-government approaches align outcomes and resources across agencies; common risks are turf conflict, blame avoidance, unclear accountability, and coordination costs.

A project delivers defined outputs within scope, time, and cost; a programme delivers outcomes and benefits; a portfolio aligns projects and programmes with strategy.

The triple constraint links scope, time, and cost, with quality at the center; changing one constraint normally requires adjusting another.

Earned value: CV = EV − AC; SV = EV − PV; CPI = EV/AC; SPI = EV/PV; EAC ≈ BAC/CPI when current cost performance continues.

The critical path is the longest dependent path through the schedule; tasks on it have zero float, and delay there delays the project end date.

Risk score = probability × impact; responses are avoid, mitigate, transfer, accept, exploit, share, or enhance depending on threat or opportunity.

Stage gates review business case, delivery progress, risks, and benefits at defined points; the decision is continue, hold, recycle, or stop.

Benefits realization requires a baseline, named benefits owner, benefits register, tracking metrics, and arrangements to sustain outcomes after project closure.

The RACI matrix assigns responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed roles; exactly one accountable owner should exist per deliverable.

Evidence hierarchy generally ranks systematic reviews and randomized trials above cohort, case-control, cross-sectional, case reports, and expert opinion.

Internal validity concerns causal inference within the study; external validity concerns whether findings generalize to other populations, settings, and times.

Random sampling reduces selection bias; random assignment supports causal inference; larger samples increase precision and narrow confidence intervals.

Correlation does not establish causation; confounders can create spurious associations, and randomization, matching, difference-in-differences, instrumental variables, or regression discontinuity can help.

Data quality dimensions include accuracy, completeness, timeliness, consistency, validity, and uniqueness.

Data protection principles include lawfulness, purpose limitation, minimization, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity and confidentiality, and accountability.

Digital government design principles include interoperability, open standards, APIs, security by design, privacy by design, accessibility, and human oversight of algorithms.

Algorithmic accountability requires bias testing, explainability, audit logs, human review, and an impact assessment before high-risk deployment.

The communication model contains sender, encoding, channel, noise, receiver, decoding, and feedback; noise can distort any stage.

Stakeholder engagement starts with identification and analysis of interests, influence, positions, and preferred channels, then tailors messages and participation.

A persuasive message specifies audience, desired action, benefit, supporting evidence, channel, and timing, with one clear call to action.

Active listening uses paraphrasing, reflecting, clarifying, and summarizing to confirm understanding and reduce miscommunication.

Crisis communication prioritizes speed, accuracy, consistency, empathy, and a single source of truth; speculation and contradictory messages erode trust.

The public participation ladder runs inform, consult, involve, collaborate, and empower; each level implies different citizen influence over the decision.

Negotiation analysis uses BATNA, reservation value, ZOPA, and interests behind positions; integrative negotiation seeks joint gains rather than fixed-pie division.

Attribution rules: on the record is attributable; background is not attributable but usable; off the record is not usable; deep background informs without attribution.

Public-service ethical principles include integrity, objectivity, impartiality, honesty, accountability, confidentiality, and respect for others.

Conflicts of interest may be actual, potential, or perceived; management options include declaration, avoidance, recusal, divestment, or independent oversight.

Gifts and hospitality require registration and a public-interest test; acceptance is improper where it could influence, or appear to influence, official decisions.

Protected whistleblowing disclosures should be channeled internally, to a regulator, or externally where permitted; retaliation against disclosers is prohibited.

Accountability cannot be delegated, while responsibility can; an accountable official answers for outcomes even when tasks are performed by others.

The Nolan principles of public life are selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership.

The fraud triangle explains fraud through pressure, opportunity, and rationalization; controls reduce opportunity and increase detection.

Ethical decisions can be tested against legality, public interest, transparency, fairness, rights, and consequences; post-employment rules restrict lobbying and use of confidential information.