Basically, no shogun was a complete dictator nor a complete puppet of the cabinet officials (other than when the shogun was very young), and there was a system in place whereby the shogun had the final say on issues discussed by cabinet officials (mainly senior councilors, "roju").
基本的にどの治世においても将軍は完全な独裁者、もしくは（将軍が幼少の場合を除き）幕閣の完全な傀儡という状態ではなく、老中を中心とする幕閣による合議で決定された事案を将軍が決裁するシステムが存続した。