Pub Sociology links to the 1992 Atlantic article that first named Mark Felt as Deep Throat, and points out that the sociological significance of the Deep Throat saga, particularly the way it illustrates bureaucratic politics:

… the story of Deep Throat is also interesting from a sociological perspective. Mark Felt’s motivations to aid the Watergate investigation were more than just personal. Felt, along with other senior FBI administrators, were caught in a battle with Nixon’s White House over institutional control. Deep Throat was a reflection of the bureaucratic politics of the era — the pitting of an agency that prided itself for its autonomy against a patrimonial administration that trusted no one and wanted to usurp whatever bureaucratic control over federal agencies they could.