Abe opened politics of the Edo bakufu to "tozama daimyo" (a 'daimyo' who was not a hereditary vassal of the Tokugawa family), such as Nariakira SHIMAZU (the feudal lord of the Satsuma Domain), to "daimyo" of "shinpan" (relatives of the Tokugawa family), such as Yoshinaga MATSUDAIRA (the feudal lord of the Echizen Domain), and to "daimyo" of "gosanke" (three privileged branches of the Tokugawa family), such as Nariaki TOKUGAWA.
阿部は外様大名（薩摩藩の島津斉彬）や親藩・御三家（越前藩の松平慶永や水戸藩の徳川斉昭など）の幕政への参入を認めた。