As Emperor Daigo had no Sekkan (regents and advisers) and compiled "Engi no kyakushiki" (regulations and laws of the Engi era), his reign was considered by succeeding generations as the reign when an ideal politics were carried out by direct rule of the Emperor and his reign was called as Engi and Tenryaku no chi (reign of Emperor Daigo and Murakami) together with the reign of Emperor Murakami (Tenryaku no chi - glorious Tenryaku rule) who also carried out direct rule in the middle of the 10th century.
醍醐天皇は摂関を置かず、また延喜格式が編纂されるなど、後世の人々から天皇親政による理想の政治が行われた治世と評価され、同じく10世紀中期に天皇親政が行われたとする村上天皇の治世（天暦の治）と併せて延喜・天暦の治と呼ばれた。