 This paper proposes a new theoretical explanation for the relationship between health systems and social values. It argues that health systems have the potential to create social value through four mechanisms, they can provide a unifying national ideal, legitimate popular attitudes towards rights and entitlements, strengthen trust in the state, and communicate the extent to which the state values different population groups. The paper concludes that these mechanisms can be explained as emergent properties of the dynamic network of values-based connections, operating within health systems. This article was authored by Eleanor Beth Weil and Jill Olivier.