Smaller nations, for example, may not have need of a federal structure. In an essay on the international influence of the Constitution and the Federalist Papers, Duke University law professor Donald Horowitz notes that many ethnically divided countries have avoided federalism for fear it would promote separatism.
The U.S. Constitution also presupposes cultural traits that are not found everywhere. The more a constitution limits a government, the more a society needs to rely on voluntary associations to solve or manage problems. Those associations are easier to form in high-trust societies than in places where nobody trusts anyone outside the extended family.
Social trust also enables constitutional brevity. Our Constitution leaves most policy outcomes to the political processes it creates. A society where sizable groups fear they could lose big in these processes might want a constitution that reduces their risks by including specific policy commitments.
Perhaps the most important precondition is a culture committed to the ideals the Constitution embodies. Our Constitution would not work in a society that values security and equality more, and freedom less, than we have historically done.
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