The Muromachi bakufu, as the central administrative authority, enjoyed a preeminent position above everyone else, but the political system during the period was characterized more by the shugo daimyo, somewhat analogous to feudal barons in their control over their respective provincial areas, and though they were nominally under the direction of the bakufu, in practice the bakufu and the system of daimyo can be understood to have ruled jointly, with each mutually complementing the other in exercising and developing political and economic control.
この期間の政治体制は、中央政権たる室町幕府が上位に立ち、地域権力たる守護大名が幕府の監督下にありつつも、両者が相互補完的に政治的経済的支配を展開する室町幕府-守護体制として理解されている。