We examine the relationship between galaxies, supermassive black holes and AGN using a sample of ~ 2 3 , 0 0 0 narrow-emission-line (Type 2) AGN drawn from a sample of ~ 1 2 3 , 0 0 0 galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We have studied how AGN host properties compare to those of normal galaxies and how they depend on the luminosity of the active nucleus. We find that AGN reside in in massive galaxies and have structural properties that are similar to those of the early-type galaxies in our sample. The host galaxies of low-luminosity AGN have old stellar populations similar to normal early-types. The hosts of high-luminosity AGN have much younger mean stellar ages and a higher fraction have experienced recent starbursts. We then use the stellar velocity dispersions of the AGN hosts to estimate black hole masses and the AGN [OIII]X5007 emission line luminosities to estimate black hole accretion rates. We find that the volume averaged ratio of star formation to black hole accretion is N lo3 for the bulge-dominated galaxies in our sample. This is remarkably similar to the observed ratio of stellar mass to black hole mass in nearby bulges. We also find that black hole growth is vigorous today only for the population of relatively low-mass black holes (< 107.5M0).