Answer:
b. A form of government in which power is held by the people and exercised by elected representatives.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term "republic" comes from the Latin word "res publica" which means "thing of the people" and "Republicanism" is an ideology or form of government in which people elect their representatives in order to hold a public office for a specific period of time and to create and enforce policies that benefit the entire public or the society as a whole and not only to certain members.